Coming back
by happycat12
Summary: After having told him to "leave and don't come back", Princess Eleanor decides she needs Jasper Frost back at the Palace once more.
1. Chapter 1

It's been seven months since he left the Palace but it takes James Hill only two hours to track down Jasper Frost, even though he's 5,000 miles away in a different continent, a different time zone and has assumed a new name.

Which is weird considering she's pretty sure that Marcus is in Ireland using the same name and yet James reports that he is nowhere to be found.

When he tells her that she gives him a sharp look. She's deeply suspicious that the reason Marcus can't be found because James doesn't want to look.

When she questions him again about Marcus he just gives her the same reply again and she sighs heavily.

"Shall I arrange the jet to depart tomorrow Princess? We'll need to fly to LA and then its a short drive to Santa Barbara?"

Eleanor nods, resigned. She's tired and she doesn't have the time or energy for a fight with someone she now considers her best friend. Maybe her only friend.

"Tell them to have the plane ready to fly out a couple of hours after we arrive. We need to be there and back within a day. I do not want to be away for any longer at present," she instructs.

If she's going to get her way - and she has to get her way because she doesn't want to fail in this particular mission - then any begging she has to do had better be in person. And preferably with a stiff whiskey and a line of coke before she speaks to _him_ once more.

* * *

On this particular day he spent two hours in the office catching up on emails and paperwork before he begins one of three site inspections he has planned today.

He acts as an independant security consultant for events and businesses, reviewing and audited security plans and giving (expensive) advice on all manner of threats.

As far as jobs go, he doesn't mind the work, it's actually pretty interesting and certainly easier than some of the jobs he's had to deal with. Or some of the people he's had to deal with in the past.

When he left England he knew he had to get away from everything - from her, her family, his family, his former less than honest way of life and everything in between that reminded him of any of it. Especially _her_.

At first she was all he thought about, and no matter how hard he stared at the maps of store layouts and event plans, it was only her face and her voice that came to mind.

But gradually over time things improved and he wasn't thinking of her every waking moment. Now he only thinks of her maybe a dozen times a day. And even if its always her face and her body that comes to mind when he's with another girl, he feels as if he's finally making progress here.

So he thinks he'll keep this job and he'll keep this life because its the best he can do if he can't have the thing he really wants.

* * *

It's precisely 3.15pm when former Scotland Yard detective Mr James Hill re-enters his life.

Jasper spots him as he appears suddenly on the edge of the reserve as he discusses the best location for the band and security with the event coordinator at an upcoming public concert.

Jasper does a double take and wraps up his conversation then walks brisquely towards Mr Hill. He's scanning the reserve carefully because if James is here, there's a faint possibility the Princess may be in tow somewhere nearby.

"I would appreciate a word Mr Frost," James tells him.

"Of course," Jasper replies, poker faced, as if its perfectly normal for visitors to pop over on a twelve hour flight, several thousand miles for a quick chat.

Mr Hill starts walking quickly towards the car park and Jasper keeps stride with him.

James opens the door of a black Jaguar with tinted windows and gestures him inside.

He slides himself in.

From the front seat the Princess turns her head around and gives him a long look which is accompanied by total silence.

Both of them stare at each other, startled even if the encounter is not entirely unexpected for either of them.

Eleanor's wearing a fitted black three quarter length mesh top and a black mini skirt and her hair falls in tumbled curls over the car seat. He's pretty sure she's taken something because her pupils are dilated and her chest is rising and falling quickly like her hearts pumping double time.

She swallows. "I appreciate your speaking to me today," she starts.

The next bit is hard for her to say but she steels herself to do it because all of this has to be done.

Over the past year, she'd attempted to reconstruct her life and become something better, cleaner and more substantial than the selfish Princess she had been.

But it had taken only one blow and two weeks to undo everything she'd achieved. And now all her addictions were back with a vengence - the alcohol, the drugs, the men.

"I know that I was the one who asked you to leave. And that I said I didn't want you to come back. But I'm here today to ask you to come back to be Liam's security detail. And I know that you have your own life here now and its a big ask to expect you to drop it and come back to the Palace but everything has changed and we really need you now," Eleanor tells him.

He doesn't miss the way her voice quivers or her lip trembles.

She wants him to come back to be Liam's security detail and that _we_ need him, but he wants her to tell him something that's true about them. That she misses him. That she wants him back. That he meant something to her.

That is _was_ a relationship.

His jaw tightens.

"If you want me to drop my life here, if you want me back, you have to be honest with yourself Eleanor. If you want me, there has to be an us again, otherwise I'm not putting myself through any of that again," Jasper tells her and she knows that he is still angry with her for everything she put him through.

"I'm not -"

Eleanor interrupts him. "This isn't about me or you, or _us_ if there ever was such a thing. This is about Liam. His new security detail is godawful and gloomy and he makes me depressed just to be in the same room as him. Liam needs you back as his security. He needs a friend."

If Liam wanted the moon right now, she'd try moving the earth closer to its orbit. But what he needs is someone he can count on, a friend his own age who'll be there for him now.

"Liam has lots of friends," Jasper tells her, frowning.

"I know he has friends but they have their own lives and their own jobs. They can't be with him 24/7 when he needs support. And he's going to need a lot of support," Eleanor tells him.

It's not part of an act or a calculated move to get his sympathy when she reaches forward to clasp his hand. She does it because she desperately wants his help and she can't help herself, because once upon a time she thought she could count on him. She even thought she loved him.

"You have to understand that Liam's ill. He has leukemia," she says and she also can't stop herself when the tears pool in her eyes and start to trickle down her cheek.


	2. Chapter 2

That was the last thing he was expecting from her.

He's not a sentimental man, but he spent a good six months as Liam's security detail, he's even willing to go as far as calling him a friend and he doesn't have many of those, if any.

At her words he feels a tight clutch of fear.

But he knows that what he feels after knowing Liam for six months is nothing to how Eleanor must feel.

After her father and Robert died, he knows that Liam was the only one left she could count on - that both of them felt it was them against the world as Cyrus took hold of the Crown illegally.

Once the paternity test results were announced, Liam was restored as rightful heir and his friend who Jasper still thinks of as boy, fresh out of school, because he is a child in so many ways, is now King of England.

Jasper swallows, and clears his throat. "If Liam needs me - if _you_ need me - I'll come back," he tells her.

She still has her hand clasped tight in his, even if she's not consciously aware of it. In his hand, her palm feels sweaty and he's sure that she's on something. Which for Eleanor would be entirely predictable given the current circumstances.

"Thank you," she says, and she sounds genuinely thankful that he's deigned to return again.

She knows she hurt him and she had been afraid that he would make her beg for him to come back.

"You can't tell anyone what I've said about Liam. It hasn't been announced that he's ill yet and won't be until later this week. And when it is a media circus will very likely break out which Liam doesn't need right now," she adds, her brows knotting together.

Normally Liam is perfectly adept at handling the media but the thought of him being so unwell and having to deal with media harassment makes her unreasonably angry. And protective of her brother.

"I know," Jasper nods, because he'd figured as much already. And he's ready to fight for Liam's right to privacy, for his right to be allowed to be treated and recover without worrying about intrusion into his private life.

Eleanor suddenly seems to recollect that she still has her hand in his and withdraws it abruptly.

"Jasper, I appreciate what you're doing for Liam and for me in agreeing to come back to England and resume your duties at the Palace. Liam considers you a friend to him, a good friend, and he needs that right now," she tells him earnestly.

She leans forward into the glovebox and takes out a tissue and wipes her nose, and he's not sure if it's talking about Liam or the line of cocaine he's pretty sure she did not long ago that's making her sniff. Both, he suspects.

She shifts in her seat looking uncomfortable, and looks at her hands as she clutches the tissue. "I know that whatever we had between us was messed up, and that we were messed up, so I think its best if try to keep a relationship that's professional between us. Or even if we could try to be friends. I don't think I can try be anything else to anyone right now because Liam needs me and I need to give him all of my time."

She turns and looks up at him then, "We don't have anyone else you see - only each other," she says simply, trying to make him understand.

He does understand this all to well already. And he understands why she's disregarding her mother's existence. Because a mother who's spent 21 years ignoring and belittling her children and ten months deciding to be a mother isn't much use in a crisis.

Jasper sits back in his seat and regards her steadily.

"I can't pretend that what happened between us never happened, or that it wasn't a relationship because it was," he tells her.

He sees her open her mouth, and he suspects she's going to tell him it wasn't, but then she thinks better of it, and abruptly shuts up.

"But if you and Liam need me there on a strictly professional basis, I can do that," he tells her.

He's not sure whether he can do friends with the Princess, because seeing her here in the flesh today just reminds him of how much he wants to have her in his arms, cover her lips with his and take her again and again. That urge hasn't lessened any with time and distance, unfortunately.

Eleanor nods and leans back into her seat, feeling suddenly exhausted at the thought that she's not even half way through what she needs to do today.

"I have to go back to London today," she tells him. "I can't be away for too long at the moment given Liam's condition. Will you come back with us on the jet today or do you need a couple of days to arrange things here?" she asks.

"Yeah I'm gonna need a day or two to get my shit in order," Jasper replies.

"Of course," Eleanor replies. "James will arrange a flight for you then. Business class. No doubt he'll be in touch with the details."

Jasper nods and takes that as his cue to leave, and starts sliding out of the car door.

"Thank you, Jasper," Eleanor says politely once he's standing by the car door.

"Princess," he replies in acknowledgement, returning to the formal greeting he would use in public when he was her security.

James is waiting by the car door and nods at him as steps away from the car.

A few seconds later Jasper's watching as the car silently pulls away bound for LA International airport with James behind the wheel, while he contemplates what exactly it means that Eleanor Henstridge is back in his life again.


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for your reviews. Yes, poor Liam. And yes Luna I love it when Eleanor is really sweet too, it is very cute and she's so protective of Liam and the people she loves which you see in this story

* * *

There's a sleek black car waiting for him when he arrives at Heathrow, and an older grey haired man who he doesn't recognise is holding his name up on a sign.

He introduces himself as Alan - one of the Palace's official drivers.

It takes an hour to get back to the Palace and when he's dumped his things back into his room, taken a shower and changed into his suit, he reports back to the Head of Security.

Since Ted was quite literally torn apart by the crowd at the King's cup, a new appointment was made to his position and he's a forty something man called William Rutherford who formerly oversaw security at the Royal families west country estates.

After a brief interview he's told he will start work again this afternoon at 1pm.

He occupies his time for the next half hour taking a walk around the Palace, then reports at 1 to Liam's room.

Outside a solidly built security detail stands impassively by the door and asks for his ID. Jasper shows him his pass and he takes a look at it then glares at him intensely for a moment before allowing him inside.

Liam's lying down on the couch with his eyes closed and Eleanor is sitting in a plush armchair beside him, watching him carefully.

Eleanor looks up and he can hear her sharp intake of breath when she sees who it is. Then she smiles at him cautiously and beckons him closer to them.

Liam looks pale and doesn't bother to look up to see who's entered.

"Look who it is Liam," Eleanor prompts him.

Jasper thought at first Liam was sleeping but now he realises he's awake.

Liam opens his eyes and turns his head and looks at first the feet planted by his side, then up his torso until he sees the familiar chiselled features by his side.

"Jasper," he says, shocked and then his face creases into a broad smile. "What are you doing here?"

Jasper doesn't get a chance to reply because Eleanor's already leaning forward to speak. "He came back to be your security detail again. Ivan's going to become mum's security and they're hiring a second security for you to assist. Jasper's going to be with you during the daytime."

Jasper looks from Eleanor to Liam and both their faces are wreathed in smiles, and he thinks that the reason why Eleanor went to the trouble of bringing him back from America was for this moment here - just to see her brother smile.

Liam pulls himself semi upright. Jasper can already see the effects of his illness because he moves slowly and looks tired.

"Come sit down Jasper," Liam smiles, gesturing to the spot beside him. "I have to confess I didn't know you were coming back to work here but its good to have you back again," he sounds genuinely thrilled to see him.

Jasper places himself on the edge of the couch. "Thank you," he replies, smiling back at Liam. "It's good to be back."

Liam scans the room carefully then leans over towards Jasper and lowers his voice. "You know the security who replaced you is no fun at all. He's Russian and he always looks like he disapproves of everything."

"He never smiles and has no bloody sense of humour whatsover," Eleanor adds, talking back to Liam but not looking at Jasper.

"Some days I did actually start to wonder if I annoyed him whether he would put some kind of hit out on me. I'm pretty sure he used to be in the Russian mafia," Liam muses, then leans back against the couch.

"That is a distinct possibility," Eleanor says in agreement, frowning.

Eleanor's sits upright in her chair as her fingers trace the pattern of its gilded edges carefully when a silence descends on the room.

"Liam was in hospital yesterday having chemo so he's been feeling tired this morning," she volunteers, risking a quick glance at Jasper.

Jasper clears his throat. "Yeah, I was real sorry to hear about your illness. But I know you can beat this Liam. You're a fighter," Jasper tells him.

"That's what _I_ tell him too," Eleanor announces passionately, leaning over to squeeze Liam's hand encouragingly. "After we've dethroned our dear conniving bastard of an uncle, leukemia's going to be a walk in the park."

Liam smiles but weakly. "Yes well let's just take this one day at a time at the moment," he replies. "Tomorrow we're going to have to announce the fact that I'm ill to the Press," he adds, grimacing. "And they're going to go nuts, I'm afraid. Unfortunately we can't delay it any longer because one of the papers reported today I was in hospital yesterday and they're already stirring up speculation about what's wrong with me."

"James and I will sort out the security for tomorrow," Jasper tells him. "And we'll be reviewing security arrangements to ensure your privacy isn't disturbed while you're having treatment and during your recovery," he adds.

Liam turns to his sister now. "Len my Press Secretary is coming at 4 today and we're going to work out my statement. Now I know that you and mum said you would pick up some of my duties between you while I'm having chemo but there's something else we have to discuss."

"You don't have to worry about your duties Liam, Mum and I will cover anything important and anything else can wait until you're better," Eleanor reassures him.

"I know," Liam says. "And I appreciate it, I really do."

Liam looks as if he's steeling himself to say something his sister doesn't want to hear and it takes a minute before he comes out with it. "You know that once this is announced the Press is going to come out with a barrage of questions and some of them are going to relate to what happens if the chemo _isn't_ successful, to what will happen if I die."

"You can't die," Eleanor bursts out with, and her face indicates she is in total denial that this could ever be a possible outcome. "Don't you bloody say you could die on me. It's not going to happen. I won't let you," she finishes angrily, as if her willpower alone can defeat the cancer that's eating him inside.

"You _can't_ talk like that Liam," she adds, and her voice sounds anguished.

"I _have_ to talk like this Eleanor," Liam replies simply, and Jasper notes he's now resorted to her proper name as if he were a parent addressing a wayward child. "I'm going to fight this as best I can but it's possible I won't be able to beat it. And as the King I have to think about the succession. This is not just about me. The country needs stability, they need to know what the plan is if I need to be replaced."

Liam continues. "So what I need to know from you Len, by tomorrow morning, is if you want to be Queen or not, in my absence."

Jasper can see Eleanor's still in shock that Liam is forcing her to face the idea that one day in the not too distant future she may be the only surviving half of the Royal twins. And what's worse the Queen of England.

"You're not dying Liam so there's _never_ going to be a question about whether or not I'm Queen," Eleanor repeats stubbornly.

"Take it as a hypothetical question if you must, but I still need an answer Len, because we're going to be getting that question tomorrow."

Liam sighs heavily and slumps back against the couch. "And now if you don't mind I think I need some sleep before David arrives."

Eleanor bites her lip, trying to hold back tears. "Of course," she says, then stands upright.

She makes her way to her brother and hugs him quickly. "Get some rest."

She turns and heads for the door on not entirely steady feet.

And even if he wanted to, Jasper doesn't think he could stop himself from silently following after her once she's closed the doors and is trailing down the corridor.


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanks for your reviews. I do enjoy the Liam - Eleanor relationship a lot. The actors are very compelling as brother and sister._

 _But now for some Jaspenor..._

* * *

By the time he catches up with her along the corridor beside the portrait of some Royal hunting dogs from the nineteenth century, she's all messy tears, with mascara smearing around the edges of her eyes.

She's too caught up in her own grief to notice him until he places a hand on her shoulder and then she stills as he comes around in front of her.

"Liam won't die," he tells her and he's careful to insert a level of certainty into his voice he can't guarantee, because he knows its what she most needs to hear right now. She's already lost her father and older brother and the thought of her twin dying and being left alone, with her mother as her only surviving family member, is just too much for her. It would be too much for anyone, Royal or not.

She's standing in front of him right now, and he still has a hand on her shoulder, and she's looking at the ground, tears still sliding down her face. He's been imagining her face for months, but seeing her here and now, even with smudgy eyeliner and tears, she still takes his breath away. He wants nothing more than to run a hand through her silky dark hair, press his mouth to her pink lips and sink down into her.

But he knows he has to hold himself back. He promised her that much.

"He's going to have his treatment, and he'll get better. He'll get married and have kids and reign for a long time. He'll be a good King. Much better than your shitshow of an uncle. He'll make your Dad proud," he says.

His words manage to bring a ghost of a smile to her face which flits across her face for a moment. He's telling her everything she wants to believe, everything she needs to hear, and its as welcome as the first drops of rain after a scorching summer drought.

And then she makes a tiny movement, taking a half step closer to him, so slight its hard to notice. But to him it speaks volumes.

So now he takes a risk and pulls her into his chest, resting his chin on top of her head and his arms around her.

He's careful of boundaries because she told him, quite definitively that there was to be nothing between them right now, and he wants to respect her wishes. He doesn't want to fuck up anymore than he has already.

And Eleanor doesn't pull back at all, if fact she nestles her head closer into his chest, as if this particular spot is her best refuge from a cruel world. And there's something to comforting in the warmth that radiates from Jasper's skin, from the familiarity of his cologne and from being back in his arms again.

"Liam's going to be fine and you won't have to be Queen," now he's talking in a low voice. He can hear she's not crying anymore and her breathing has settled.

"But Liam's right that the reporters will ask him that question so you do need to tell him an answer tomorrow," he continues.

"I don't know what to do," Eleanor tells him, sounding agonised.

"If I don't want to be Queen I feel like I'll be letting down Dad and Robbie and Liam because they all spent their lives trying to keep the Monarchy going," she has her face pressed against his shirt, and her words are muffled.

She sniffs, "or if I should abdicate because I'd be such a disaster as Queen I'd taint people's memories of our family and ruin Dad and Liam's legacy."

"You would never do that Eleanor," Jasper says, talking into the top of her head. "Your Dad and your brothers all believed in you, they saw all your good qualities, how great you could be. But if you don't want to be Queen that's ok too. The country can go on without a King or Queen, nothing's gonna fall apart based on that."

He reluctantly peels her off him so he can look her in the face. So that he knows she understands what he has to say. "I think what your Dad and Robbie and Liam all wanted for you most of all was for you to be happy. So whatever you decide is going to be fine with them _so long as you're doing what makes you happy_."

He knows that what he's said to her is correct because he's stood silently by the door, discreetly listening into enough conversations between the Princess and her father and her brother Liam, so know that's its true.

Eleanor's watching him silently, because its startling to hear the words her departed father and her older brother uttered to her so many times repeated to her here, once again, by Jasper.

"Yes," Eleanor replies, and his words have given her some peace that whatever choice she makes is going to be ok.

"Thank you Jasper," she says. Jasper still has his hands on her shoulders, and now she disentangles herself from his body and steps back from him.

"I appreciate your advice," she says formally, as if he's just dispensed some political acumen from afar instead of having his arms around her while she heaved messy tears into his chest. "I really do," she repeats, sincerely.

He stands where he is while he watches her retreat down the corridor. It feels like part of his heart is leaving with her.

Because he came back for Liam. But he also came back because this is his chance with Eleanor, his only chance to make everything up to her.

He spent six months marking Eleanor's every move, spending every waking moment keeping her safe. He's spent too many hours in her bed, pressed against her, on top of her, and he knows what every sound and expression she makes means. He knows Eleanor better than anyone.

He know how to play a long game and if he can be to her whatever it is she needs right now, if he can play this slow and careful, and never push her too far, maybe she'll let him in again.

Maybe she'll realise that she needs him as desperately as he needs her.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day proves to be a long one, and trying for everyone involved.

At 2pm, King Liam sits with his mother and sister to record a media statement about his health for broadcast an hour later.

He tells the world he's determined to fight his illness but he'll have to retire from Royal duties while he is having treatment. While he is ill his mother and sister have offered to cope with most of his engagements.

He also announces that if he doesn't recover, Princess Eleanor will assume the throne if she has the support of the people to do so.

What his sister actually said was that she would become Queen if the public supported her in a referendum, but Queen Helena has ruled out any reference to the term referendum, saying that once the media gets hold of that idea they'll never hear the end of it.

To Jasper, Eleanor's decision makes perfect sense because at what she most wants in the world is to make her father proud. And the referendum was her father's idea which she can now execute. Eleanor suffers from a lack of confidence and self belief so he's sure she's convinced herself that the public won't want her. He suspects she doesn't want to be Queen, and she certainly doesn't want to be Queen if the public don't want her. But now it won't be her disappointing her father, it will be the public's choice.

Once Liam's statement is released, the Palace Press Office is barraged with media enquiries and requests for interviews.

Eleanor is fiercely protective of her brother's privacy and so only Helena and Eleanor respond with further comment on behalf of the family.

Behind the scenes, Jasper and James are working with the Head of Security to tighten all protocols to allow the Prince to slip away to a private hospital tomorrow morning without detection.

Helena and the Palace Doctor have also engaged two nurses to share shifts, providing round the clock care for Liam, who is expected to become sicker as his treatment progresses.

* * *

He does.

It's nearly a month into Liam's treatment and its taking its toll.

He has lost most of his hair, his eyes are red rimmed. He's on several medications to battle his cancer, and painkillers, and the combination is too much for his body which protests this by vomiting up the contents of his stomach several times a day.

Liam's too weak to get out of bed most days, so any visitors he gets have to come to him instead.

His nurses, overseen by the Palace doctor, provide him with admirable care, but for those who know and love him - and that means the Princess chief of all - watching him suffer is agonising.

Every day the Queen and Princess put on their best outfits and smiles and feign interest in whatever appointment they have scheduled that day on the King's behalf.

And even Eleanor, who's been infamous in the past for some very _unroyal_ behaviour, seems to be taking pointers from her mother because in public she's almost everything that a princess ought to be - gracious, beautiful, kind hearted to those less fortunate than herself. And if her comments occasionally get her into trouble (she's overheard saying that Mongolia 'hasn't evolved since Genghis Khan' and referring to one of the better turned out members of the English Cricket team as 'fit as fuck') well the comments in the online versions of tabloid newspapers seem to appreciate her direct way of expressing her views.

So by day Helena and her daughter are holding the fort admirably.

But in the late afternoons when the days appointments are done, the Princess is always the first to visit her brother, and stay with him until late that night.

And then she goes back to her room and drowns her fears about her brother in whatever cocktail of drugs and alcohol happens to ber handy.

Jasper's been watching this go on for weeks now, and he doesn't know whether its Liam or Eleanor who worries him more.

He knows that somewhere along the way over the course of the past few weeks, in between lifting Liam in and out of bed, punching papparazzos _(with just a little too much enthusiasm than is strictly necessary)_ who attempted to take photos of the King looking weakened and ill as he emerges from hospital, and sitting up with the King and Princess late at night as both of them try to cheer him out of his exhausted depression, Eleanor decided he was worthy of his trust once more.

She doesn't say anything of course, and the signs are subtle, but they're there. She looks at him now, instead of glancing away when he's in the room. Sometimes he even catches her watching him when she thinks he's not looking, and then hastily looks away. Once he's pretty sure he actually saw her blush like a guilty schoolgirl. But most of all she trusts him absolutely in everything to do with Liam - his care, she trusts that she can leave him in his company when she's at engagements, that he will protect him from harm and worry to the best of his ability.

* * *

It's a Tuesday evening the following week when things take a turn for the worse.

Eleanor's spent all day visiting at a country woman's institute, and if she could summarise boring in one word, looking at spinning displays, listening to gardening seminars and inspecting floral arrangements would be it.

Back at the Palace Liam's looking peaky - his skin is sweaty and pale and he's been vomiting a lot. He hasn't eaten anything that day, and all these things alone are enough to put Eleanor into a state of high anxiety.

But at 9pm Liam starts bleeding from the nose, and even after the nurse has him tilt his head back, its still bleeding half an hour later when Doctor Cohen is called.

There's a hushed conversation between the two and then the doctor asks Eleanor to leave and not come back this evening.

Eleanor fires a series of worried questions at him, but he comes back saying that this type of bleeding is completely normal at this stage of his treatment.

Eleanor kisses her brother's forehead and he barely registers her presence and then she reluctantly exits the room, with James in tow.

No matter what the doctor says, she has a horrible feeling that everything is not fine, and Liam is getting worse.

It's just after 11pm when Liam has finally stopped bleeding and is settled and sleeping with the help of an injection, when Jasper finally feels able to hand over to Liam's night security, and goes to check on Eleanor, who looked thoroughly shaken by her brother's condition.

James has knocked off for the night and there's a night guard stationed by the door who's seen him in the company of the Prince and Princess and doesn't question him when he pushes open the door without knocking and makes his way into the room.

Eleanor's sprawled on the bed with a bottle of vodka in her hands, and traces of white powder still round her nose.

She has her eyes closed and is wearing only a pair of skimpy lacy black knickers and bra.

He's seen her a lot like this when he was her security but its been months since he's seen her in so little or laid a finger on her perfect porcelain skin.

Its part desire and part anxiety to check that she's actually still breathing that makes him ghost a hand over her lips.

His touch makes her awaken, like sleeping beauty.

She stares up at him, eyes wide and glassy. "Jaspah," she breathes, as if she is convinced he's a figment of her imagination.

He clears his throat. "I came to tell you that Liam's stopped bleeding and he's sleeping."

She stares back at him, uncomprehending. Clearly the mix of alcohol and drugs she's injested designed to numb the worries she has about Liam's health are doing their job admirably.

He knows he should go back to his room now but whatever hold Eleanor has on him hasn't lessened any over the past month. In fact if anything its gotten worse, because although he's been the King of Self Control he's never stopped wanting her, and that same need is there every minute of every moment he's with her.

And he's steeled himself to fight it, and just work on making it up to her, to get her to trust him again, and so far he's been winning.

But he wasn't prepared for this. For Eleanor, like this. Sprawled out on her bed beneath him, wearing next to nothing with only a few scraps of fabric clinging to her seductively, with a faint scent of Chanel on her which brings back memories so strong of his lips on her neck and her skin under his that makes him ache to touch her once more.

He can't stop himself from letting his lips follow where his hand have been and a minute later his mouth is on hers, hot and demanding.

And once he does she starts kissing him back. And then her hands are winding themselves around the back of his neck as if that's where they belonged, as if that's where they've always belonged, all this time.


	6. Chapter 6

_Thanks for your reviews. Tough to read about Liam but also tough to write because I really like his character and how much he means to Eleanor._

 _Next chapter is up below and it has an M rating._

* * *

Once he's had a taste of Eleanor again, he can't get enough and suddenly everything turns desperate between them.

His hands are in her hair, and his lips are burning into her skin and she's dragging him down closer to her.

They shed their clothing and then its just skin against skin and there are no preambles. Jasper's on her, his body thrusting into her again and again and she's like a drug that he can't get enough of. As if he's on fire and she's the spark.

Now they're back in her bed again. He smells of sweat and sex and masculinity and she's off her mind, high of illicit substances and the way he takes command of her body is so achingly familiar that she doesn't fight any of it.

Because this has been coming ever since he stepped foot back in the Palace. Platonic, 'just friends' was as natural between them as a fish out of water. Their natural equilibrium is either fucked up yelling, strained silence, simmering sexual tension or plain hate. But not friends. Never friends.

Right now she doesn't remember the details but she knows Liam's still in trouble, that he's sick. That if Liam goes, she'll either be alone or maybe she'll go too, because as twins they were always together. She can't even imagine a life without him.

Her cheeks are wet from thinking about Liam, so she shuts it out.

The only other thing she has is here with her in this room. Except that she doesn't have him in that sense.

But she has his body, making her feel things right now at least. That is something.

Her brain is swimming and she tries to define herself through sensations so that she can _be_ , but not _think_. Her hand running down the tampered muscles of his biceps, his mouth against her nipple, his body like hot fire inside hers.

The roof is spinning, and Jasper's relentless, pounding into her in sharp, forceful movements.

Her eyelids flutter, and her fingernails scrape into his back in time with his movements, pulling him as deep into her as he can go.

Breathless sounds fall from her lips, and she can hear the guttural noises in the back of his throat which she knows from long experience are a signal he's about to come.

"Look at me," Jasper commands.

She opens her eyes and it takes a moment for her vision to clear before she can see his face properly.

He has his face against her shoulder when she spasms underneath him, moaning.

Then he finally lets go, pushing into her with one deep thrust.

A moment later he's caught his breath enough to find his voice. "Eleanor," he shifts so his lips are against her ear as he says her name in her ear. The sound of it is intoxicating.

She is intoxicating, flushed and perfect in her delicate beauty beneath him. He runs his hand over her face, pushing her hair back from her skin.

He doesn't know if he can touch her or if she's out of reach. Before she would never let him hold her after.

But now when he pulls her closer, she just stills and shuts her eyes.

He only starts to appreciate how off her face she is when her breathing has settled and she's almost lulled into sleep and she murmurs something.

"I wish I wasn't in love with you," she breathes into his chest, where her face is pressed. It hurts that he does these things to her, he makes her feel things she doesn't want to feel and yet he doesn't love her. Not even a little bit.

She wishes just for once she could be the one to have something, to have someone for herself.

He almost doesn't catch her words because they're faint but they're definitely said.

He leans closer, and whispers the words back. "I love you too Eleanor."

But they never register because she's already dreaming.


	7. Chapter 7

Eleanor wakes feeling groggy and hungover to find James smiling brightly back at her.

"Tea?" he asks politely.

Eleanor pushes her hair off her face and nods, pulling herself upright. Whatever the hell she took last night is making her feel like crap.

She glances over at her bedside cabinet and sees a bottle of vodka with only a trace left in the bottom and traces of white powder left on a silver tray. Now the fuzziness in her head and the heaviness in her limbs makes sense.

She gratefully accepts the tea cup and saucer when James passes it to her. "What time is it?" she questions.

James glances at his watch. "9.25," he informs her. "Apologies for waking you but we need to leave at 10.40 for your visit to the preschool in Oxford. And after that its on to the RAF base."

Her eyebrows knot together as she imagines the hoards of snivvling, argumentative, noisy little toddlers she's going to have to put up with, and what's worse pretend to like, this morning. Kissing babies was best left to politicians and not princesses.

Today is definitely going to be challenging.

James watches her in amusement, guessing her thoughts without her ever airing them.

"In my experience, the best way to get children to be quiet is to tell them a story, your Highness," James offers.

"I don't know any stories," Eleanor frowns as she sips her tea.

"Then its fortunate that I happen to have a couple of books with me that are some of Ellie's favourites. Perhaps we could read them out together to the children," James suggests.

Eleanor considers his offer. Presenting herself as the patron saint of small children is hardly the public image she's after but she absolutely cannot tolerate the thought of putting up with several dozen screaming pre-schoolers in her present state of hungoverness.

"Agreed. We can split the reading between us," Eleanor nods. "But if any of the little buggers crawl on me I would appreciate your removing them because I don't need their snotty fingers all over my Givenchy dress," she adds, having settled in her mind that today she will wear the black silk dress with lace detailing hanging in her wardrobe.

"Very well then," James replies, smiling.

"How's Liam?," Eleanor asks, swirling the last strains of her tea nervously. She has a vague recollection of Liam taking a turn for the worse last night, of blood on his handkerchief, and his face looking pale and drained.

She distinctly remembers the doctor being called and being asked to leave.

"I understand he's more settled now. The sedative helped him sleep through the night," James replies.

It's not strictly part of his role to check with the King's nurse on his health every morning but this is always one of the questions the Princess asks after she wakes so he makes it his business to know the answer.

Eleanor nods. "Please let Ann know I will come and see him when we return from Brize Norton."

"I will," James tells her. He's sure Liam's nurse already anticipates her visit because she turns up every day after she's finished her appointments to see her brother.

"Will there be anything else you require?" James asks her.

"No. Thank you for the tea. That will be all," Eleanor waves her hand at him airily, dismissing him.

* * *

Eleanor survives the preschool visit, but its the RAF tour that really undoes her.

She hadn't paused to consider it before she stepped foot on the base but seeing hundreds of strapping airmen in the very same uniform she associates with her older brother is pure hell.

Everywhere she turns, her eyes pick out a tall dark haired man in an airforce uniform and her heart clenches and she thinks _Robbie._

It happens when she arrives into a briefing room and her gaze settles on the back of one of the officers heads, it happens when she sees one of the pilots step out of a plane in the distance and again in the officers mess.

She manages to get through the visit without crying, but during the journey back to London she doesn't say a single word.

When she gets back to the Palace, she unceremoniously dumps the items she's been given by the airforce with James, turns and heads straight for Liam's room.

Jasper is stationed outside the door and she gives him a quick nod before pushing her way into the room.

This evening, Liam looks much the same as last night. His face is pale, he looks weak, he's been vomiting again and the overall impression he gives off is pure exhaustion.

Eleanor goes over to his bed and sits down beside him.

She rests her head against his shoulder, leaning into him. "Do you want anything Liam?" she asks.

Liam shakes his head. "No. Ann gets me anything I need," he tells her, making eye contact with the middle aged nurse entrusted with his care.

She smiles back at him warmly. Even though the King is so unwell, he makes a good patient - kind, good humoured and considerate. She only wishes his prognosis was better.

And she's had to rapidly change her opinion about the Princess she's read so many damming things about before she entered the Palace. With her brother she's as sweet and thoughtful a girl as she's ever met. And yes she can be fierce and stubborn at times, but its always to protect her brother and ensure he receives the best treatment so she can't fault her on that. It's easy to see why the King's handsome bodyguard is in love with her, something that has been blindingly obvious to her within the space of a few days in her role.

Liam leans over to grab the TV remote and switches it on then changes the channel until they get to The Big Bang Theory, which he likes.

They sit there watching it together, her head still resting against his shoulder, laughing at the funny bits. When its over he switches over to Little Britain and they keep watching.

When its finished, the nurse tells both of them that Liam needs to sleep now.

"I'll go then," Eleanor tells her brother, reluctantly, switching off the TV.

Eleanor gets off the bed and looks down at her brother.

"You know I love you," she tells him. The words come out before she even has a chance to catch them.

"What was that for?" Liam frowns, puzzled by her words. Eleanor's not the type to express her emotions.

Eleanor turns her face away from him. She can't tell him the truth - that she's spent the day being reminded of one dead brother and she's convinced Liam's dying too.

"I just wanted you to know," she says instead. "Dad and Robbie, I never said it to them, you know?"

"They knew," Liam assures her. "Trust me," he tells her.

Eleanor nods, then turns and heads for the door.

She doesn't even glance at Jasper as she leaves the room and makes her way down the corridor.

She hasn't eaten this evening and she has no appetite.

She knows there's only one thing that's going to take away this feeling and tonight she's heading straight for it.

* * *

At 9.30pm Jasper knocks off.

Five minutes later he's outside the Princesses door. James has already gone for the evening and again the night security guard just nods at him briefly. He's young but by now he must suspect there's something going on with the Princess but Jasper's never been one to kiss and tell so he just gives him a curt nod then pushes his way into her room.

It's a risk for him to be here in her room because today she's given him no indication of where he stands with her now, after last night. But Eleanor always was infuriatingly difficult to read.

There's no sign of Eleanor and at first he thinks she's in the bathroom or her closet. But there's no light coming from either.

It's only once he checks the room over again that he spies her on the floor on the far side of her room, sprawled by her bed.

His heart skips a beat when he recognises that something is very wrong because there's a pool of vomit beside her and when he leans down to touch her, her skin is like fire and her pulse is wildly irregular.

He glances around, taking in the traces of white powder on the dish beside her bed and the empty alcohol bottle beside her and it takes him two seconds to yell for the security to _go get the nurse_.

The door opens and the security comes in and he yells at him again, his voice urgent.

Then he pulls out his phone and dials for an ambulance and gives them the address in quick fire.

They ambulance control centres still talking at the other end of the line at him, but he has Eleanor in his arms, running his hands over her face and repeating the same words over and over again as if he can breathe her back to life just by the want of her.

"Don't you die on me Eleanor, don't you fucking die on me."


	8. Chapter 8

The nurse arrives two minutes later and the paramedics ten minutes after that.

Jasper holds her carefully as the nurse rapidly checks over her vital signs.

A minute after the paramedics arrive, Jasper has her in his arms running for the ambulance.

The two paramedics strap her down, cut open her dress and hook her up to a monitor and then the driver puts his foot down and they race off into the night, sirens blaring.

Jasper's with them in the back of the ambulance. His heart is racing and the adrenalin is blocking out anything but Eleanor and the people attending to her.

He watches the ambulance staff like a hawk, picking up every word and look, trying to figure out whether she's going to make it through or not. Eleanor has a drip in her arm and a wire strapped to her naked chest and it hurts that she looks so tiny and vulnerable and completely helpless.

Throughout everything he has her hand in his, tightly clutched. His other hand is clamped around her wrist, pressed to her pulse point. He needs to know that she's still alive, even if the beat is flickering and irregular.

But then everything changes in a second when the monitor goes from a series of hills and valleys to a flat line. Suddenly he's pushed out of her grasp by a pair of strong hands.

"She's arresting," one of the paramedics yells.

The other grabs the defibrillator, rips the wires from her chest and presses it against her skin.

The shock of the electricity courses through her body and her back arches up as the current surges into her.

All eyes look to the monitor again but she's still flatlining.

"Try again," the paramedic standing by the monitor instructs his colleague in a perfectly calm, controlled voice as if they've done this a hundred times before. Which they probably have.

Jasper has his head in his hands and he can't even bare to look as they clamp the paddles to her skin again and try to shock her back into life.

He thinks of Eleanor's words - _I wish I wasn't in love with you._

But she is.

And so is he.

There's nothing either of them can do because she's in love with him and he's in love with her, even if its impossible and hopeless and doomed before they've even begun.

And because he loves her, he would give up everything - he would even give up _her_ \- if only she would just _live_.

* * *

Queen Helena's dressed in a silk wrap and negligee and about to retire for bed when all hell breaks loose.

First she's interrupted by several of the staff behaving in a most undignified manner - yelling and stomping along the corridor while the maids gather in little groups talking in high pitched voices.

She exits the room and makes her way out into the corridor. "What in God's name is going on?" she demands, directing her question to any of the number of staff who are presently losing their heads in all manner of ways.

Now she can hear the blare of sirens getting closer and this only confuses her further.

Several faces stare back at her wide eyed. Nobody wants to speak.

Eventually the night butler pipes up. "It's Princess Eleanor, your Majesty, she's ill."

"What's wrong with her?" the Queen demands.

The butler clears his throat. This is a delicate one. "Er - possibly a drug overdose."

The Queen's face registers shock and then she snaps. "I cannot recollect how many times I have told her to lay off the drugs. And now this is what we get."

She surveys the staff. "Will and Yvette go and find the ambulance and help direct them back to Eleanor's room. David follow me now," she orders, turning on her heel and heading rapidly down the long corridor that leads to the East wing where the Princesses room is. She had long ago given orders that given the carry ons that went on in there, the Princesses room was to be located well away from her own quarters.

It takes a good couple of minutes to make her way to the Princesses room and by the time they get there, it's empty.

They stand together in the room silently, as they listen to the ambulance siren start up once more - loud at first and then it gradually gets weaker as it moves further away.

David's been in the Queen's service long enough to know its better not to comment when a tear trickles down the Queen's face. She reaches up and brushes it away with an elegant movement.

"How bad is she?"

Helena turns and regards her son standing in the doorway.

He's dressed in pyjamas and a dressing gown. His face is pale and his eyes are red and he's leaning against the door for support as if the effort of walking a few hundred yards has left him unreasonably tired.

"I don't know," his mother replies truthfully. "I imagine she's still alive otherwise they wouldn't have been in such a rush to get her to hospital. I guess we'd both better get dressed and go down there and find out," she decides.

Liam's still standing stock still and doesn't reply.

He looks up and she sees the tears are starting to pool in his eyes. "You know this is my fault. That the reason she's back on drugs is because I'm ill and she hates seeing me like this."

Helena walks over to Liam and pulls him into a hug. It hurts her that both her remaining children have such heavy burdens to carry.

"This is not your fault Liam," she tells him firmly. "Unfortunately your sister's always had a tendency to try to medicate away her worries. I haven't been the best mother to her but I'm trying to do better. And if she pulls through this - when she pulls through this - I'm damn well going to see that she does not do this ever again," she says, sounding determined.

A moment later Helena breaks the hug and steps away from her son. "I'll have a car called to take us to the hospital in ten minutes. In the meantime you can try and make yourself look a little more Kinglike and I'll try and look like the Queen," she tells him.

She pauses and takes a breath as she heads for the door. "And after I've put my makeup and heels on, when we get down there she better bloody well be _alive_."


	9. Chapter 9

_Thank you for your continuing reviews, its great to keep getting them. I particularly liked the comment from whoever said this - "The suspense is killing me and the plot looks like it's killing everyone else at the moment"_

 _Ha ha. Well...maybe? You'll have to keep reading to find out_

* * *

Eleanor's heart starts beating on the third attempt to shock her back into life.

The 30 seconds Eleanor is medically dead are the entire worst of Jasper's life and when she comes back to them the relief is overwhelming.

Five minutes later they're at the hospital and Eleanor is rushed inside.

He was only allowed in the ambulance because he had no quarm in lying and telling them he was her bodyguard, but once she's in the hospital, he's shut outside as a doctor and two nurses swarm around her.

He's terrified that her heart might stop beating again and he stations himself right by door, where he can overhear hear scraps of their conversation.

Fifteen minutes after the ambulance Eleanor's admitted, Liam and Helena arrive, accompanied by the charge nurse and an overawed looking receptionist who stands awkwardly with both of them - clearly with no idea how to address them or what to say.

But even the King and Queen are forced to stand outside waiting for a further five minutes until the staff looking after Eleanor have stabilised her condition enough for one of the nurses to emerge from the room and give her family an update - that she arrested but she's alive, that they're watching her carefully. That there is a risk her heart could stop again but if she can make it through the next couple of hours she should fully recover.

Helena and Liam spent five minutes with the nurse listening to her update and asking questions.

And then they're allowed inside. Jasper stands by the door, watching them.

Helena goes over to her daughter and runs a finger along Eleanor's cheek and for the first time that he can recall her expression when she looks at her daughter is almost tender. Loving.

Ted Pryce's words are in his head - _the Queen is threatened by her daughter's youth and attractiveness_ \- and he wonders when exactly whatever love the Queen had for her daughter as a child disappeared and the Queen started competing with the Princess. Because ever since that time, Eleanor has been suffering.

Liam's standing by Eleanor's hospital bed and his gaze is fixed on his sister as though he's still reassuring himself she's alive. He looks up and sees Jasper standing by the door and even he can see how much yearning there is in his eyes just to be closer to her, to watch her, maybe even to hold her hand.

Liam beckons Jasper over to the bedside and turns to the nurse. "This is Jasper and he is to be allowed to stay with Eleanor. He's family," Liam tells her. It's an outright lie and anyone with even a basic understanding of royal geneology could work out that this anonymous American has no familial connection with the Royal family, but even sick and weakened as he is, Liam is still the King and as such he is not to be argued with by anyone, least of all junior nurses.

The nurse nods her head, "Yes your Majesty," and makes a note of this on the Princesses chart.

Jasper gives Liam a grateful smile and he's over at the bedside in two quick urgent steps.

"I will be giving my secretary orders to book Eleanor into a drug rehabilitation clinic," Helena announces. "Not in England but somewhere discreet and she will stay there until she is fully recovered. It's something I should have done long ago," she adds as if she's making a confession to them both.

She lifts her hand from her daughter and looks towards Jasper. "You found Eleanor I understand and called the ambulance. I want you to know that we are immensely grateful that you did that. We will always be indebted to you Jasper Frost."

Liam nods. "You saved her life Jasper, I can't tell you how much that means to us," he leans forward to shake his hand - a formal gesture but the traditional way of thanking a gentleman. And Liam is nothing if not well mannered.

The Queen gently shifts the blanket over Eleanor so it covers her exposed arm. The evening is chilly and the hospital is older and not well insulated. She doesn't want Eleanor to be cold.

"If there is anything you want in return for your service to us you have only to ask and its yours," Helena informs him regally. "Anything, even if it seems out of reach," she continues, repeating herself. She drops her voice and adds significantly. "Even if that thing is my daughter."

Both Jasper and Liam regard her, shocked. The Queen has just given her blessing for a common born, thieving American con artist to become involved with her daughter.

Jasper's still considering how to reply when Helena speaks again. "The only thing I ask it that you allow Eleanor to recover from her addictions first. She needs time away from this world to heal."

Jasper swallows and nods gravely. He's not used to talking about what Eleanor means to him. "I want her to get better. I want her to stay safe and be happy. Eleanor deserves someone much better than me but if she'll have me no one will ever love her as much as I do," his voice sounds thick with emotion and he has to turn away from them both.

Helena nods and Liam's done staring and now rewards Jasper with a warm, genuine smile. "You would be welcome in our family Jasper," he tells him, patting his shoulder.

They turn their attention once again to Eleanor. Liam's visibly tiring now and the nurse brings forward two chairs so that Liam and Helena can sit by Eleanor's bedside while Jasper stands behind them.

Helena takes Eleanor's hand and her face creases into a smile as she regards her. "She looks so peaceful now. Even if she's not the perfect Princess when she's awake, asleep she looks like sleeping beauty," she declares.

Liam smiles and looks at his mother. "She looks a lot like you Mum. Just don't say that to her when she's conscious," he adds, grinning.

Helena lets out a small laugh. "She does hate that comparison. But I'm so pleased she came back to us," she says, "because I just don't know what we would do without her."

Liam nods silently in agreement. He can't imagine life without his twin - she's the other half of him and he would have to go through the rest of his life with something missing from him.

Jasper stands silently behind them both, his eyes never leaving Eleanor.

And after watching Eleanor slip away from him, after thinking he'd lost her now she's almost within reach again.

If she'll only have him.

If he can only be patient.

If she can only hang on to life.


	10. Chapter 10

Although Eleanor's grasp on life is tenuous, she's a fighter.

Helena and Liam sit waiting anxiously by her bedside, waiting and hoping she will stabilise. Jasper stays beside them, leaning tensely against the wall, his eyes never leaving Eleanor's face.

The nurse stays in the room, monitoring the Princess.

Helena's security detail, who's been waiting discreetly outside is dispatched to get the Queen coffee. Twice because the first cup from a vending machine the Queen declares to be "bloody awful" so he is send out into the night to find something more palatable.

From the palace a maid arrives with a change of clothes, hairbrush and makeup for the Princess on the Queen's orders.

As the night wears on, Liam's looking increasingly tired, but he refuses to leave his sister's side. A nurse brings him a pillow and blanket.

He's dozing when the doctor comes in to check on the Princess at 3.30am. He checks her over carefully, questions the nurse for a few minutes and then turns to the family and announces that he believes the Princess is through the worst of it now and he's no longer concerned that her heart may stop again.

Liam's awake now and struggles to pull himself upright. "So she's going to live?" he asks urgently.

The doctor nods and adjusts his glasses. "The chances of anything going wrong at this stage are minimal. I would suggest you all go home and get some rest and come back later in the morning when she may be alert. The nurse will stay with her here and continue to monitor her progress."

Helena stands, smiling tiredly. "That's wonderful news doctor. Thank you so much to you and your team for your care of Eleanor." She turns to the nurse. "Sarah, I appreciate your care of my daughter.'

The nurse nods, blushing. "Just doing my job, that's all."

"Liam," Helena prompts.

Jasper moves over to help Liam to his feet.

Liam shakes hands with the doctor and the nurse and thanks them for looking after his sister.

Liam and Helena move toward the exit but Jasper makes no move to follow them.

"I'll stay with her," he tells them, and his voice has a tone of finality as if he's not going to be arguing with anyone over this.

"Very well then," Helena replies, noting the set of his jaw. "Be sure to contact us to let us know when she wakes."

Jasper nods and turns his attention back to the Princess as the King and Queen exit the room.

As soon as they're gone Jasper seats himself by Eleanor.

He leans forward to hold her hand.

He checks and the nurse is busying herself at a computer screen on the edge of the room, so he bends over Eleanor.

His lips brush her cheek then he whispers in her ear, "I love you Eleanor. Just keep fighting Princess."

* * *

Sometime in the early hours of the morning he falls asleep by her bedside.

He wakes when she wakes because that causes a flurry of activity by a nurse who Jasper doesn't recognise by her bedside.

He looks at his watch - 10.43am.

The nurse is checking the Princess over, and asking her a volley of mundane questions - what's your name, what month is it, who is your family, where do you live.

Eleanor's obviously weak and exhausted but at least she has her wits about her because she answers them all correctly. It's taking all her effort just to focus on the nurse and she doesn't seem to have registered Jasper's shadowy presence, now leaning against the wall, at all.

A few minutes later the nurse asks him to leave and then he's stationed outside her room once more, resuming his standard bodyguard pose.

He runs a hand over his face tiredly then picks up his phone to call the Palace butler and inform them the sleeping Princess has awoken and is doing well.

* * *

The King and Queen arrive back after lunchtime but by this time the Princess is asleep again.

They enter her room once more, with Jasper following silently behind.

The doctor, this time an Indian woman in her 30s, gives them both an update on her condition and they question her on whether she will suffer any lasting effects.

Everyone is relieved when the nurse tells them the Princess is lucky to have suffered no harm as a result of last night's incident.

Helena takes a moment to run a finger down her daughter's face and then she turns to the doctor and nurse and takes command of the situation.

"My staff informed me you think Eleanor will be well enough to be checked out this afternoon."

The doctor nods. "Yes your majesty, the Princess has been doing well and if she continues to recover smoothly she could be checked out after 5pm today."

"Very well then," Helena responds. "I don't want the Princess returning to the Palace."

Liam raises an eyebrow. "But she'll want to be back with her family," he tells his mother.

"What Eleanor wants and what is best for her are two entirely different things," she informs her son. "Eleanor needs to be removed from temptation and she will not be returning to the Palace until her room has been searched and decontaminated of whatever she has stashed away there. And god only knows what she's been hiding there. I suspect we will need to employ a drug dog and handler to sniff it out," she adds testily.

She continues on, issuing a series of commands. "I have made arrangements for the Princess to check into an exclusive drug rehabilitation clinic in Provence. The jet is on standby to take her there tonight. James will go with her."

"The media will be informed that the Princess is suffering from nervous exhaustion on account of her brother's illness and is taking time to recover and-"

Liam interrupts. "Won't she need to be away for several weeks? They're not going to buy that explanation after she's been there a month or,"

Helena holds up her hand to silence him. "We shall combine the nervous exhaustion with some type of plausible illness. The doctor may have a suggestion," she adds, looking towards the doctor.

The lady doctor looks back at the Queen, startled. It's not really her line of work to identify credible fake illnesses to cover Princesses going into hiding at drug rehabilitation facilities.

She frowns, considering the question. "I would suggest glandular fever your Majesty. It can take several weeks to recover from."

Queen Helena nods, satisfied. "Glandular fever it is, combined with nervous exhaustion," she decides.

"I will not have it put out there that Eleanor is in hospital or rehab for a drug overdose. If that gets out we can kiss goodbye to her ever assuming the throne and that would spell the end of the Henstridge Monarchy," she issues a decree. "Because who would want a junkie making decisions on matters of national importance."

Liam nods, "yeah we can't let that get out there. As for the rehab I agree that would be best for Eleanor but she has to agree to go. You can't just bully her into submission mum," he tells her, because he's had a fair bit of experience of how intimidating his mother can be when she wants to get her way.

Helena considers his comments haughtily. Once upon a time she would have had no quarm about bullying her daughter into doing what she wanted. Now she is trying to be a better mother but she still wants to do what's best for her daughter.

"She will go if you ask her to Liam," she tells him. "So please ask her to do it for you. Now I must return to the Palace to give Rachel instructions on the statement we will be issuing. But when she wakes again I will return," she adds.

Jasper can't help but think it sounds like a threat.

Liam nods. "I'll stay with her."

He looks to Jasper.

"I'll be staying too," he announce - a response which Liam finds entirely predictable.

* * *

Eleanor doesn't wake again until three hours later at 4.20pm.

Liam and Jasper are in the middle of some banter about which Die Hard movies are the best and worst when Eleanor stirs.

She must have been listening to them for a good couple of minutes when she interrupts them tiredly. "You're both wrong. They're all rubbish," she tells them, decisively. "And the storylines are ridiculously implausible."

Liam turns to his sister, his face beaming. "It's so good to see you awake finally Lenny."

Jasper clears his throat when she turns her face towards him. "Yeah, everyone's been real worried about you."

Eleanor struggles to sit up and the nurse quickly moves to her side, helping her sit upright and propping up her pillows.

Jasper gets up to pour her a glass of water and she accepts it gracefully, thanking him.

"Now can someone explain what the bloody hell I'm doing in hospital while you two spend your time arguing over shit movies," she demands. "And a public hospital at that," she adds, sounding unimpressed as she surveys the shoddy curtains and the tired carpet on the floors. "I mean this place is seriously downmarket."

Jasper and Liam glance at each other quickly.

Liam frowns as he considers how best to explain everything that's happened in the past 24 hours to her.


	11. Chapter 11

Jasper gets up to give Liam and Eleanor a moment alone and waits outside the door.

"You don't remember anything from last night Len?" Liam starts, frowning.

Eleanor pulls herself up a little higher on the pillows as she struggles to remember.

"You were ill. We watched TV until Ann asked me to go. Then I went back to my room," Eleanor's version of events is slow and hesitant.

Liam puts his hand on her arm and she looks up at him.

His face is so open and genuine that she's always found him easy to read. And right now he looks worried - and serious.

"Lenny I know how hard its been on you since I've been sick, that you're afraid and you're worried about me," he says.

Eleanor puts a hand on his on her arm and grips it tightly. She looks frightened.

"Are you trying to tell me you're worse Liam?" she whispers and he suddenly understands she's afraid because she's scared for him.

Liam shakes his head. "What I'm trying to say is that last night things went to far. You took too much cocaine and you overdosed. Your heart actually stopped beating in the ambulance and they had to restart your heart. We were this close," he gestures an inch with his fingers, "to losing you."

Eleanor stares back at him, too shocked to even speak. Her head falls back against the pillows as she tries to make sense of what Liam's saying.

"There are so many people who care about you Lenny. Me and Mum, and James and Jasper, and Ann and Imogen and so many other people. Nobody wants to see you hurt yourself. We all need you to stay here with us Lenny," Liam implores her looking down and when he looks up to meet her eyes again, she sees he has tears in his eyes.

"I never meant for any of that to happen," Eleanor has found her voice again and she sounds shaky and urgent. "Liam I would never knowingly do that to do. I promise you," her voice is so full of anguish as she thinks about what Liam must have been feeling last night.

Liam nods. "I know you didn't mean for that to happen. But Len you can't go on doing so many drugs - if you don't stop then one day the ambulance won't get there in time and I can't bear the thought of you ever leaving me. Don't cry Len," he adds as his sister's eyes well with tears.

She knows exactly how Liam is feeling because she's spent the past month worrying that _he_ may leave _her_ and its terrifying to think that after her father and older brother passed away in quick succession her remaining brother could die too _._

 _"_ I _won't_ leave you. I never will Liam," Eleanor's voice is only a whisper but she's filled with passion. She leans forward to grab her brother and pull him into a tight hug.

They stay in each other's arms for another minute until Liam lets her go and she sinks back into the cushions watching him.

"I don't want to lose you Len, so I want you to do something for me. There's a clinic that specialises in drug rehabilitation and I want you to go there and get the help you need. And when you come back to us you'll be stronger than before."

Eleanor takes a breath, staring back at him.

Liam's omitted any mention of his mother's hand in arranging this because he knows that could get Eleanor's back up. But the fact that she hasn't dismissed the idea outright is promising.

"Liam I would do whatever you ask me to. But I don't want to be away from you when you're ill like this. You need your family with you," Eleanor tells him.

Liam leans back in his chair and regards his sister. "What I need Len is for you to get better. I'm having treatment to try and get better, even though its hell. And while I'm doing it I need to know that you're safe - that you're getting the care you need."

He leans forward and continues, "if I can put myself through that then you can too. You have to do it. You need to do it - and if you won't do it for yourself then I'm asking you to please do it for me," his voice breaks and he's genuinely pleading with her now.

Eleanor swallows and takes his hand in hers. His hand feels warm and comforting in her own.

"Okay," is all she says.

"Thank God," Liam slumps back into his seat, looking relieved. "There are arrangements under way for you to leave once you check out here and travel to Montpellier. I hear the south of France is nice this time of year," he adds, smiling at her.

"Yes well I only hope its a damn site better than this dive," Eleanor mutters. "You will ring me every day Liam. Promise?" Eleanor demands.

"Promise," Liam tells her, getting to his feet slowly.

"They're going to let you check out soon. I think Jasper will want to speak with you first," he tells her, moving towards the door.

A minute later Jasper opens the door and makes for her bedside.

Eleanor watches him carefully as he moves closer then seats himself by her bed.

"You're looking better now," Jasper tells her studying her face carefully. He's still haunted by visions of her from last night when her flesh went ice cold and her skin took on a grey tint, and its probably going to stay with him for some time. He's pleased to see that now she's got some colour back in her cheeks but she looks like she's been crying.

Eleanor's still recovering the exchange with Liam and she doesn't speak, but shrugs.

"How are you feeling now?" Jasper asks.

"Like I'm still nursing last night's hangover and I've been in some kind of bar fight," Eleanor tells him, cautiously. She's half waiting for the moment when he's going to give her a piece of his mind for putting Liam through hell last night.

Instead he raises his eyebrows and comments. "Yeah, I've had a fair few of those myself."

A silence falls on the room. Jasper's not making conversation but he is watching her intently and she doesn't know what it means.

Eleanor shifts in her bed as the nurse disappears off next door. "I'm going to go away for a while. To a rehab centre. Liam wants me too," she tells him.

"I think you should. Really," Jasper tells her, and Eleanor can't help but register the force with which the words come out.

"You need to get away from here and get better," he adds.

Eleanor nods. She's going to do her best to do that for Liam.

"While I'm away will you please take care of Liam?" Eleanor questions and for some reason she feels shy about asking him but she has to know that someone is looking out for her brother.

"I need you to tell me if he gets worse because I need to come back if he does. You understand that, yes?" she leans forward, her voice urgent and reaches for his hand and clasps it in hers. She needs him to understand that if Liam does get worse - if he is dying - she has to be there. He has to promise to tell her.

"Yes," Jasper tells her firmly. "I will tell you. I promise. But you have to promise that while you're in rehab you'll concentrate on getting better and not worrying all the time about Liam," he adds, giving her a level stare.

"Okay," Eleanor replies. "I will," and adds another promise to the many she's made today to people she knows she's let down so recently. Maybe they'll at least give her credit for trying here.

There's a whole lot more Jasper would like to say to Eleanor, but he's trying to keep his word to the Queen. That first she has to be allowed to recover from her demons before they can consider whether there can be an _us._

The nurse returns back to the room and announces she needs to check Eleanor over to see if she's ready to be discharged.

Jasper gets to his feet and stands there for a moment looking at her. "Make sure you do. Because Liam's not the only one who needs you," he adds, with emphasis.

Unexpectedly he bends over to drop a quick kiss on her forehead, then swiftly turns on his heel and exits the room.

Eleanor watches him go, and even though the nurse is talking at her from the corner of the room, she can't help but feel suddenly alone.


	12. Chapter 12

_Thanks for your reviews, glad you are enjoying the story. Next chapter is up now!_

* * *

The Queen arrives with a footman and maid in tow and bursts in on Eleanor in her underwear as she's part way through dressing.

The footman's a junior member of staff and not long out of school. His mouth falls open and he takes the opportunity to openly gawk at her. Eleanor rolls her eyes and decides to ignore him because she's spent her life being prodded and poked and dressed and re-dressed by various members of staff so its neither here nor there if the footman does see her in her knickers.

"Good afternoon daughter. Are you ready for your flight?" the Queen questions her enthusiastically, as Eleanor struggles into a pair of black leggings.

"I imagine that you'd prefer it if I didn't leave the hospital in only my bra and my leggings only half covering my ass, so no I'm not ready as yet, mother," Eleanor informs her as she steps towards the bed to pull on a diamante covered singlet.

"Louise has packed you a bag with everything you require for your journey and Richard will carry it for you. James is waiting outside to accompany you," Helena continues talking as Eleanor's head disappears under her top then reappears once more.

Eleanor sits down on the bed for a moment. "I know Liam asked me to go to this place but don't think that I don't sense your hand is behind this as well mum," she tells her, narrowing her eyes.

Helena takes two steps towards her daughter, then reaches out carefully and lifts her chin so she is looking her in the eye. "I don't think I've ever told you this Eleanor but you have so much potential, so much heart, that you could be anything you wanted to be. I've seen how you've applied yourself over the past month to doing everything to help your brother, to keeping the monarchy going when he can't keep going. Your father saw your worth and its taken me too long to realise he was right but now I can see it too."

Eleanor looks at her hands, overwhelmed with feeling. As a child she craved her mother's approval but it always seemed out of reach. So then she turned to rebelling against her, trying to fight her. But this is the nicest thing her mother has ever said to her and it makes her realise how much she's wanted her love all along.

Helena sits down on the bed beside her daughter and puts her arm around her shoulder. "I once told you you were nothing. But I was wrong. You are something special and if you could only free yourself from your addictions and believe in yourself you could be whatever you choose. And this is your chance now."

Helena leans into her daughter and pulls her close against her shoulder. "So take it Eleanor."

Eleanor sniffs and rests her head against her mother. "I will Mum. And I'm sorry for everything I did to try and annoy you. I'll try and be a better daughter," she tells her.

Helena pats her daughter's hand. "And I'm trying to be a better mother."

Helena stands, brushing down her dress regally. "Now you had better go," she bends forward to kiss Eleanor on the cheek. "Have a good flight and do try and stay away from paparazzi. That's a story we could do without."

A smile flashes across Eleanor's face briefly. "This time if I do get caught at least I'll be wearing knickers."

"I call that progress," Helena replies, returning her smile.

Eleanor turns away from her mother as the maid transfers her bag over to the footman and makes for the door, anticipating the footman will follow her but he's slow on the uptake, still staring after her longingly.

"Come on then," she tells him impatiently. "They'll be plenty of time for you to wank over the thought of me in my knickers once you're back at the Palace. Right now I have a flight to catch."

"Y-yes, your Majesty," he replies, startled as his face turns beet red when he realises she's totally called him out.

She rolls her eyes again and doesn't bother to correct the title but makes her way downstairs as the footman trots along behind her, silent and red faced.

* * *

As Eleanor's luggage is loaded onto the jet, Liam and Jasper arrive back at the Palace.

Even from the nearest entry its a good five minute walk to Liam's room because the Palace is a maze of rooms and corridors.

Jasper hasn't missed that Liam's struggling as they near his room and that he's stopped talking because its apparent the effort of talking and walking at the same time is too much for him.

As they near his room Liam starts to faulter but Jasper's by his side in two steps holding him upright to prevent him fainting

Jasper knows how much effort its taken him to hold himself together for the sake of his sister since last night because she needed him.

And it's only now that they're finally home and she's out of danger that he can finally let himself go.

Jasper picks Liam up effortlessly and makes for the door. "Nurse," he calls and Ann rushes from her room next door and hurries towards the Prince as Jasper lays him on the couch.

At Heathrow, Eleanor's jet is airbourne and she leans over towards the window, her eyes fixed on the city sprawled out beneath her as the pink glow settles over a landscape she won't see again for some time.

* * *

It's after 9pm by the time Eleanor checks into the palatial nineteenth mansion where she will be staying. James is only there to accompany her until check in because the centre already has ample security bourne of long experience of patients in desperate need of a fix attempting to remove themselves from the building.

She's not brave enough to cope with the stares and whispers that will inevitably follow when her fellow patients discover _who_ has just checked in so she asks if she could have something to eat brought to her in her room. She's grateful when a maid brings her a salad and some bread as requested.

Breakfast arrives via a maid with a knock at her door at 8.15am and at 9am Eleanor reports downstairs. She is directed into a small sitting room.

Three faces turn towards her as she enters. She can tell two of them definately recognise her by their astonished faces while an older man looks back at her blankly.

They sit in a circle. The counsellor introduces herself and spends the next ten minutes telling them about herself, how she got addicted to methamphetamine and alcohol and how she decided three years ago to get clean. How she wanted to help other people overcome their addictions. How she men a man she fell in love with and is getting married in two months.

She tells them they have only two rules in this centre - no drugs and that they don't share anything they've heard from other people outside these walls. Then she asks them to tell their own stories.

The Frenchman in his 40s who doesn't recognise her goes first, speaking in his native tongue. He says he was in the army for 20 years and rose to become an officer but had to be discharged a year ago with an injury to his leg. He tells them he became depressed that he couldn't continue doing the thing he loved and started using. How he's here for his wife, his 8 year old son and his six year old daughter. How he wants to get his life back together and be a better husband and father.

The Counsellor listens to his story, then congratulates him on making the choice to turn his life around. She tells him they will all be given all the support to make the changes they need if they are committed to starting new.

To Eleanor's right sits an elegant, willowy girl with tanned skin and hair died a deep red who looks to be in her early 30s.

When the Counsellor looks to her she introduces herself as Nina, speaking French but with an Italian accent.

"I'm here because of my coke habit," she explains, glancing around the rest of the group boldly.

"I've had it for a long time now. I was 15 when I got into modelling. It started as a part time thing, then when I was 17 it became a career. You have to understand that in that world there are drugs all over the place, everyone offers them to you and it's like a laugh, a bit of fun, to take them. I was just a kid then and I didn't understand that they were addictive, that they would start to take over my life, that they would destroy my looks eventually."

Nina's hardly unattractive but its clear that her lifestyle has aged her beyond her years.

She's looking at everyone but her gaze fixes on Eleanor for a moment as if she amongst all of the them might understand what she's saying. "When I got into modelling no one ever stopped to ask me what I wanted to be, if this was what I wanted to do, everyone just said how lucky I was to get to travel all over Europe, how glamourous my life must be. So now I'm here at 28, with no education, no skills, no career except an industry that doesn't want me anymore, but still with the coke habit I picked up when I was 16 which I can't seem to get rid of."

Eleanor offers her a shy smile back. She's been sitting apprehensively in the circle listening to the Counsellor and the Frenchman called Luc speak. She doesn't easily trust strangers and she certainly doesn't share her secrets with people she doesn't know.

But listening to Nina there's so much about her story that's her own story too. A few more years and she could be Nina. Part of her already is.

The Counsellor looks to her and prompts her to tell them about herself and how she got here.

Eleanor takes a deep breath and starts talking in a rush in her best schoolgirl French. "I'm Len. You'll probably know that my brother is the King of England. I started using properly when I was 19. Before that I'd just taken things at parties when people offered them."

She thinks back to that time and the memories are still painful, even with the distance of time. "All my life my mother made me feel like I was a disappointment because she wanted me to be a certain way and I couldn't be as perfect as she wanted. When I was 17 this guy came along. I was young and naïve and I thought that he was perfect, that he was the one for me, that we'd be together for ever. Everyone approved of him - he was my brother's best friend, and its hard for me to find someone that was acceptable to my family in my world, you see, so that was important. We were together on and off for a year and a half but we were never committed like boyfriend and girlfriend. But he was always around and I thought things were going somewhere."

Eleanor looks up and Nina is looking at her sympathetically. She swallows and keeps going, even though it hurts her to tell this. "But then he went away to Spain for four months and when he came back he'd met a girl and they were engaged. It was like my world fell apart. I dropped out of university and I started partying hard and the drugs went from a habit to an addiction. And so did the booze, and the men."

"Everything got worse when my brother Robbie and my dad died," Eleanor blinks back the tears because she doesn't want to be the first to cry here. "I kind of went out of control and I made a lot of bad choices and I hurt a lot of people I love. For a while after that I was clean and sober and I was like that for nearly a year. And then my brother Liam was diagnosed with leukemia and I felt like I couldn't handle everything anymore. I needed to just forget for a while and the drugs helped me do that."

She looks at her hands and continues in a whisper. "And they helped me forget that I'm in love with someone who doesn't love me back. Someone who hurt me a lot. But now he's been doing everything he can for my family so I think that he's too good for me."

"Thank you for sharing Eleanor. Now that we understand a little more about everyone's pasts we're going to talk about the future and what you want to achieve while you're here," the Counsellor tells them, turning to face the rest of the group.

* * *

When they leave the room fifteen minutes later Eleanor is waiting for Nina.

She's not good at making friends or keeping them but she's already put herself on the line once today and this is supposed to be about fresh starts so she might as well give it a go.

"I love your dress - is it Gucci?" Eleanor asks.

Nina raises an eyebrow. Even though they had a moment in the session she's surprised the Princess would lower herself to seek her out after the session. She nods and replies in fluent if accented English, "Yes, I used to get a lot of freebies from shows. Of course I got a lot of drugs as freebies after shows which is how I got here," she adds wryly.

"I like your style Princess," Nina offers back, sounding genuine. "Your cousins with the red hair not so much, but you are setting the trends."

Eleanor smiles back, blushing. "Yes well my cousins manage to dress like colour blind five year olds on Halloween so _someone_ in the family has to make an effort."

Eleanor takes another risk and tries reaching out a little more. "Do you want to get a coffee or something? I saw that they have some in the lounge and we're allowed to visit there when we like."

It's worth the chance because Nina nods back, smiling. "And you can tell me if the married man who broke your heart was Lord Beckwith. He looks super hot so I don't blame you for falling in love with him," she's seen the photos of them together. They were all over the world, even in the Italian papers.

Eleanor nods. "Yes. Even my bodyguard who is 50 and as straight as straight comes did once say he would be tempted to turn gay for him if only Beck showed the inclination that way."

Nina laughs out loud and the two of them fall into step together as they head for the lounge.


	13. Chapter 13

_Thank you for your reviews. Eleanor in rehab continues below..._

* * *

It's the second day when the withdrawal symptoms really set in.

At breakfast time she's fine, but by nightfall she's sweaty, shivering and feeling distinctly nautious.

Eleanor shuts herself in her room, but here there is no privacy because a nurse knocks on her room an hour later.

She checks her over then injects her with something to take the edge of her cravings and there's some relief as the drug flows through her system.

She manages to sleep for five hours before she's awake and staring at her bedroom ceiling, feeling tense and needy once more.

She tries shutting her eyes but when she does she can only see one face and its not Liam's.

 _Jasper._

 _Jasper standing outside her room, hands clenched behind his back, his face blank and professional._

 _Jasper beside her as she walks down the corridor, his arm tucked into the small of her back._

 _Jasper in her room, closing the doors silently behind him, his eyes silently commanding an order before the words 'take off your dress' have even left his lips._

 _Jasper in her bed, in her arms, on top of her, inside her- rough and demanding._

 _Jasper's hand on her cheek, pushing back her hair so his lips can follow as he breathes into her ear._

 _His hand in her hand, strong and comforting, as they watch from up high as a thousand people descend on her father's murderer._

She draws herself upright, pulling her knees against her chest, and wonders if he ever cared for her at all.

Once upon a time she thought he did. She wondered if he even loved her. But then he left, and surely after everything that happened at the stadium, if he felt something for her he would have fought harder when she told him to go.

And since he's been back he's been so focused on doing his job, that the issue of them has never come up again. Which means that whatever there was between then must be dead, and whatever feelings she still has for him are just an afterglow of something that burned out well over a year ago.

She pushes the memories away.

She gets up and lifts up the phone. "Can you send the nurse up please? I'm room 23."

Three minutes later a sedative is coursing through her veins and her eyes flutter shut once more.

* * *

The first week is hell, and even having a proper friend with her doesn't help that much. But whatever legal medication they're shooting her up with is the shit because at last there's some relief.

By the later half of the second week she's actually starting to feel better and her cravings are less strong.

She speaks to Liam via Facetime most days. At first his face is drawn and even though he's unfailingly positive, she can see how tired he is.

A week after she arrives he comes off his intensive chemo schedule and he is put on a less stressful schedule of medication with chemo sessions every two weeks.

It takes several days to show but then he starts to improve. His skin gets a little colour, he's more animated and he stops losing weight.

By the third week, he tells her if he continues to improve he can resume light engagements in two weeks.

From the corner of the room, Jasper watches the twins in conversation with each other.

He never misses a session but he never joins in, just lurks in the shadows because it is enough for him just to see her whole and well and hear her voice. _His Eleanor_.

* * *

Every day there's three hours of counselling and group work at the centre. Some of its awful and makes her mothers interminable garden parties seem like raves. Some activities she refuses to do because she can't see the point of holding hands with strangers and chanting affirming statements. _"I am in control of my body. My body does not control me. I am strong. I don't need drugs. I don't need anything. Every day I am without drugs I am getting stronger."_

She and Nina inhabit the East wing, with a dozen others.

When they are not in sessions the two of them spend their time together. They sit together, sharing society gossip as Nina drinks coffee and Eleanor sips tea.

Sometimes they will read through fashion magazines, pointing out what they like and don't like and try to read the model's expressions.

"I think she's saying I'm bloody miserable," Nina tells Eleanor, pointing at a picture of a waif like model with a wistful expression.

"Probably because she hasn't eaten since Christmas," Eleanor says, leaning forward to take a closer look. "And having to wear common highstreet fashion that every chav with 20 quid in their pocket is going to copy next week is just making her even more depressed."

Nina turns the page and her eyes light up at the photo of a bare chested male model in boxer shorts. "What about this one?," she asks.

Eleanor considers him carefully. "Now I've had a lot of experience with male models and in my opinion I'd say he's a 8 looks wise but only a 2 in the sack. I mean look at his sad little package, it's like a wilted cocktail sausage," she says dismissively.

Nina giggles, her eyes drawn to the offending area. "It does look ...underwhelming."

Eleanor lectures knowingly, "That's why you've always got to check out the junk before you let it near your cun-"

They look up as they're interrupted by a nurse. "Time for your afternoon session everyone. Into room 3."

* * *

She's been in rehab just over a month when Liam tells her he's well enough to come and visit her.

He can only stay for two days, because then he's ready to start royal duties for a couple of hours a day, in between his infrequent chemo sessions.

Three days later the Royal Jet touches down at the nearest airfield twenty miles away and Eleanor waits impatiently for visiting hour to start at 2pm.

She's looking forward to seeing Liam, but that's not what's making her stomach churn.

That morning Eleanor applies her makeup very carefully. It takes three attempts where she washes it off and restarts it again before she's happy with the overall effect.

Then she spends 45 minutes selecting her outfit. Once of the maids packed her suitcase for the trip and she can't find _anything_ that's suitable. She's almost about to give up and order one of the Palace staff to find a personal shopper who can go into the nearest town and pick out something acceptable when Nina comes in and offers her the run of her wardrobe to solve the sudden fashion crisis which has so recently descended on the centre.

Eleanor picks out a short designer denim skirt with black tank top - deceptively casual yet also elegant, a little edgy and flattering.

She goes back to her room and puts it on and inspects herself in the mirror, happy that it shows her off to best advantage.

She reminds herself that she might not even see him - maybe he's still in England, maybe he'll stay outside all the time while Liam's inside.

Maybe he doesn't feel anything for her. Maybe he'll come inside but ignore her the whole time.

But maybe he will be there. And maybe he'll look at her. Maybe he does feel something for her.

Eleanor watches apprehensively from her bedroom window as a black BMW pulls up in the car park.

Liam steps out, wearing a casual short sleeved blue top and jeans.

And to his left, a familiar tall figure stands imposingly in a black suit with a pair of black sunglasses wrapped around his face.

She rushes to the mirror and checks over her face again, frowning that one strand of hair won't sit perfectly in place.

She's still fiddling with it when reception rings to tell her she has a visitor.

She puts the receiver down with a clunk and takes a deep breath, then pushes her door open and heads into the hallway.


	14. Chapter 14

Liam's already there when Eleanor makes her way into the visiting room.

There are two other patients there, one girl in her 20s with what looks like her parents and a man in his 30s who appears to have his girlfriend there. The girl and her parents are openly staring at Liam, curiously, while the couple are too wrapped up in each other to notice who exactly has graced their presence.

"Lenny," Liam exclaims, beaming back at her.

He's tempted to hug her but when they checked in at reception they were told there are strict no contact rules between visitors and patients. He supposes they're designed to ensure there's no exchange of drugs, alcohol or other contraband, meaning this place is some sort of strange cross between prison and a hospital.

And standing at the door are two burly security guards who he supposes are there to enforce the rules.

Eleanor stands awkwardly by the door. There's a sharp stab of disappointment that Liam's alone in the room and it takes her a minute to recover from it. And she can't go into Liam's arms either.

Liam beckons her over to a chair, perched a good three feet away from where he sits and she slips into the seat, smiling back at him.

"You look so much better Liam," Eleanor says, wonderingly as she focuses on him and looks him over. She's seen him on a screen but its not the same as seeing him in person and being able to judge for herself how he is. He looks almost normal now, only he's still thinner than before and his hair's close cropped. But most of all he has the old spark back that he's been missing since when he became ill.

"I'm doing much better," Liam tells her. "My doctor says they've killed all of the cancer and I've only got another four maintenance chemo sessions to go. So I don't think you'll need to start planning your coronation anytime soon," he quips.

"Thank God for that," Eleanor exclaims gratefully. "Because aside from the fact that that would make you dead, Mum gets totally out of control whenever there's a coronation. You remember when Dad has his ceremony she made the caterers do 11 different kinds of salmon and six different caviar pates and then decided she didn't like any of them. And then she and that bloody evil witch of a royal dressmaker poked and prodded me for weeks to get me to wear a powder pink dress with that ridiculous pink bow in my hair that made me look like I'd been attacked by Barbara Cartland," Eleanor spits it out, still steaming as she recalls one of her childhood traumas.

"I mean I was bloody fourteen then not seven," Eleanor adds, fuming.

Liam knows his sister well enough to know he doesn't want to get her started on that particular subject so he changes topics. "Seems like a nice place here," he offers, looking around the tastefully decorated room.

Eleanor shrugs. "It's not the Ritz but if I'm going to be bored and sober it's no worse than anywhere else to do it."

Liam turns his attention back to his sister and narrows his glance. "You know that mum and I are both proud of the way you've turned everything around by coming here. I hope," he adds meaningfully, "you're going to keep it up back home and stay off the drugs."

Liam doesn't lecture her often but Eleanor knows it when she sees it and coming from Liam she does actually listen to him. "Yeah I will do. Maybe I'll become some sort of role model. Bad girl comes good," her mouth quirks at the thought of her trying to pull off that particular calling.

Liam shakes his head, smirking. "Yes, well you would have to clean out up vocabulary before you try that on. Do they have that kind of rehab for filthy mouthed Princesses? Because I think we should sign you up," he adds, putting on his most innocent face.

Eleanor pulls a face back at him and shoves her middle finger towards him.

"What are you 12 Len?" Liam asks, but he's laughing now and she joins him.

Eleanor shifts in her seat and glances to the corner of the room. "Do you want some tea Liam?" she questions.

Liam nods. Eleanor gets up and makes her way to the side table where she pours two cups - one with milk, no sugar and the other black with sugar.

She returns back and places Liam's on a side table with an elegant dip, then settles back into her chair. "So tell me, bro, how your Kingdom is faring? You haven't knocked up any maids or been snorting blow off some politican's dick like our dear uncle?"

Liam snorts, "Not bloody likely. Besides the fact I'm not that way inclined I've only been running on half a tank so I hardly have time to for those kind of shenanigans."

"Tut tut, what will the tabloids write about then?" Eleanor shakes her head at her brother, but Liam doesn't miss the sparkle in her eyes.

Liam considers her question thoughtfully, "Well, seeing as you've temporarily departed the scene they're filling their pages with reality TV stars who like to paint themselves orange, wear very little clothing and start fights in nightclubs," he tells her, then pauses. "But seriously the Kingdom seems to be ticking along nicely enough even without me at its helm. But that's not to say I'm not looking forward to getting back out there again," he says. "It's gonna be brilliant being able to get to see some of the countryside again," he says enthusiastically.

As he launches into a description of the engagements he has planned over the coming week, even though he wasn't the firstborn, Eleanor's reminded of how natural Liam is in his new role, mainly because he loves meeting people, working for people, and feeling that he can make a difference.

* * *

Half an hour later Liam checks his watch and abruptly gets up.

He walks to the exit and there is an exchange between Jasper and Liam at the door.

"I think I might take a tour of the grounds now," Liam says by way of explanation. "It would be good to stretch my legs."

Liam has a self-satisfied look on his face, and she's surprised that he manages not to wink at her, he's so bloody obvious about the fact that he's angling to leave them alone together to get them to talk. Well, as alone as you can be with two security guards standing at the door, eyeballing both of them, ready to enforce the no contact rule if needed.

Jasper slinks into the room and assumes the seat opposite her, without saying anything or asking permission, which is par for the course from him.

"You're looking better," Jasper offers.

To his eyes so long as her heart's still beating and she's breathing, Eleanor looks perfect. He's pleased to see she's lost the glaze in her eyes she had so often at the Palace when she was doped up with drugs. And now she's off them she's even more perfect than normal because she's put on a pound or two which somehow makes her look both more feminine and girlish at the same time, adding a little more curve to her figure and more fullness to her face.

Sitting opposite him, Eleanor nervously threads her hands together as Jasper scrutinises her carefully. She feels like she's sitting some kind of exam and the tension feels almost unbearable.

Eleanor clears her throat. "Thanks. Liam's doing a lot better too. I appreciate your care of him."

Jasper shrugs and brushes off the compliment. "Ann does most of the work. But pretty soon she's going to be leaving the Palace."

Eleanor looks up him, trying to mask the sudden panic from her voice. "You're not thinking of leaving Liam, are you?"

It occurs to her that if Liam is improving, Jasper may think he's not needed anymore. And what she means to say is you're not leaving _me_ , but she can't because he's hasn't given her anything to prove there's something between them after so long apart.

Jasper shakes his head. "Liam'll be back out there soon and he's gotta have someone to keep him from embarrassing himself by with shit American accents or congratulating fat woman on being pregnant."

Eleanor grimaces. "Yes, well I thought your accent was suspect enough, but his just rubbish. It's fortunate America's already ceded from the Empire so at least he can't offend them into revolt."

The corners of Jasper's mouth flash upwards in quick agreement and then he settles back into his chair.

Silence descends onto the room and Eleanor is glued to the chair, stomach churning with nerves the same as that morning. If he came to visit her, surely he plans to say something? Anything at all would do - something about the weather or the place or anything would be better than this loaded silence.

Eventually he decides the same. "About that night," Jasper starts. "I wanted you to know that I feel like it was a start to something."

Eleanor stares at him blankly, confused about which night he is talking about.

"Well it was a start to me coming here and getting into this programme if that's what you mean," Eleanor states, assuming he is referring to the night she overdosed.

Jasper frowns, "no not the night you ...went to hospital, I mean the night before that." He's trying not to be explicit here because he knows well enough that anything that's overheard between the Royal Family and anyone connected to them very often turns up in the papers the next day.

"I don't know what you mean," Eleanor tells him, her eyebrows furrowed together. The night before she went to hospital was neither here nor there and as far as she can recall was no different to any other night at the palace.

Her reply makes him want to shake her, because after all this time, after everything she's put him through she can't just deny what happened between them. She can't wish the things that were said were unsaid. Eleanor can be every inch a Princess at times and the stubbornness which goes with it can be infuriating.

"What I mean Eleanor is the night before you went to hospital when we slept together and you told me you were in love with me," Jasper hisses at her in a low voice.

The shock registers in Eleanor's eyes. "I did no such thing," Eleanor snaps. "We did no such thing."

She doesn't recollect any of that and surely she would have a memory if any of that had happened?

She can recall quite clearly the last and only time she told a man she was in love with him.

Beck. On the night of his engagement party. She was 19 and still young and naïve enough to think that it might change his mind about marrying _her_ if he knew how she felt about him. She's stupidly imagined that after her confession he would return her feelings and tell her he loved her.

And he did tell her he loved her - _like a sister_ he'd said. Which was patently ridiculous because far too much fucking had gone down between them for that comparison to hold water, unless he had some kind of twisted, incestuous relationship with his sister which she seriously doubted.

But from that moment on, she'd vowed she would never let her heart be trampled on again. That she would only say she loved someone if they had said it first. That she would only love someone who loved her back.

And that someone was clearly NOT Jasper Frost.


	15. Chapter 15

_Thanks for your reviews, glad you're all enjoying reading this_

* * *

"I did NOT say that," Eleanor declares, eyes blazing.

A second later the chair scrapes against the floor as Eleanor abruptly gets to her feet, whirls on her heel and is gone in a flash, leaving the door banging behind her.

Jasper's left staring after her, still swimming in the wake of her sudden anger. Eleanor's always been unpredictable, but the Eleanor he'd come back to these past few months seemed to have matured in every way. Even listening to her conversations with her brother and watching her on screen, he'd thought she'd grown up a lot with the responsibilities that had come her way with her brother's illness.

It turned out he was wrong - not that she'd managed to shoulder a lot of heavy burden's for her brother, and because of her brother, but that he'd thought she was ready to accept the idea that what they had together was something real, something precious.

Jasper gets to his feet wearily and goes outside, leaning against one of the pillars on the porch.

Liam spots him from afar and hastens towards him, smiling. As he draws closer the smile gradually fades as he observes Jasper's expression.

"It didn't go well, I take it," Liam states, frowning.

Jasper shrugs, and looks at his shoes. "You know what she's like," he doesn't elaborate.

"Impossible. Stubborn. Bloody exhausting," Liam offers, all things he's thought about his sister at one time or another. He sits down on the porch step.

Jasper nods. "Something like that."

"Sit down," Liam tells him and he uses his royal tone, which suggest that its not optional.

Jasper takes a step and settles himself down beside Liam.

"Whenever Lenny is at her worst its always because she's scared of something," Liam tells him. "Scared of losing Dad, scared of losing me. The fights she and Mum had for years were because on her side everyone always said she looked so much like Mum and she thought Mum was trying to make her too much like herself. She was afraid she would _become_ Mum and she wanted to be her own person. And for Mum the fact that she had a teenage daughter was a reminder of how old she was, that she wasn't a girl herself anymore, so she was always harder on Lenny than me or Robert."

Liam continues, "she does care about you Jasper," he says earnestly. "She spoke to me about you before the King's Cup. I could tell by her voice, and her words. You hurt her but she wouldn't have cared if she didn't still feel something for you. Just because she struggles against it, it doesn't mean you should give up on her," he tells him, and again his tone is firm, like its an order.

Jasper swallows. "I won't give up on her," he promises, and the words come out more forcefully than he planned.

Liam stands up and waits for Jasper to follow. "Good," he announces. "You can tell her that at visiting hour tomorrow."

* * *

Eleanor's listless at dinner and she shuts herself in her room after the meal.

She lies on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

She can't believe that what Jasper said is true. _If_ they had been together, _if_ she had told him she loved him, surely she would have some memory of it. It wasn't as if Jasper was _unmemorable_ in bed.

Over the past few months she had started to trust Jasper. And now he has returned to being the lying, conniving, manipulating con artist he was when he first came to the Palace. Only now things are much much worse because as much of an asshole as he is, she is _still_ in love with him, a feeling that was there today, and won't go away.

She wonders if she should be rehab from him. If they could give her shots of something to ease the withdrawals she felt when she saw the car draw away this afternoon taking Jasper and her brother away from her again. If holding hands with other foolish, pathetic, heartbroken souls and chanting the same thing over and over again would stop the tears from sliding down her cheeks when he left her.

* * *

Liam's back and waiting for her the next day at 2pm.

He has the same broad smile and cheery demeanour as yesterday.

He has a letter from her mother and another from James, and some snaps of James' niece at her ballet recital.

Liam stays for half an hour and they chat about things back home and he fills her in on some of gossip about the Palace and Parliament.

At 2.30pm Liam stands. "Now I'm going but you're going to stay here Lenny and speak to Jasper and sort out whatever it was you were arguing about yesterday. And you're not to scamper off," he says and his voice is stern.

She's about to protest but Liam's already at the door and a second later Jasper's silently made his way into the room.

She's on her feet, uncertain whether she'll stay or go when his hands are on her shoulder's, pulling her down into her seat.

Now his hands are on her wrists, and his grip is vicelike. "A month ago I carried you in my arms to the ambulance when you almost died, so you can just sit there until I've said what need to say. I think you owe me that much Princess," he hisses at her, under his breath.

One of the nurses examines them carefully and takes a step towards them, about to tell them to break contact, when Jasper releases her wrists and settles back into his seat.

And even if Eleanor wanted to, she couldn't move because Jasper is doing it again. Manipulating her. Controlling her. Putting his hands on her.

 _But not loving her._


	16. Chapter 16

_Thank you for your reviews_

 _Yip reviewers they're both stubborn and more than a little bit broken. So what will happen next?_

* * *

Jasper's eyeballing her in the seat opposite her. He looks seriously pissed off with her.

"So to be clear, first off you did tell me that you loved me," he says.

"I did not say that. I _never_ said that. And you should stop lying, you duplicitous bastard," Eleanor's staring daggers back at him and she rises to her feet in one swift movement. If he thinks he can just make stuff up so that he can try and control her so that he has the advantage, he has another thing coming.

Jasper sees the flash of her eyes before she even lifts her palm and he has control of her arm all too fast, intercepting the slap before its brought to life.

"You forget, Princess, that my sleight of hand is quicker than yours," he corrects her, smugly, as his hand holds fast around her arm. "Now _sit down_ ," he orders.

He's using the exact same tone she's all too familiar with. _Stand up. Take off your dress. Get on the bed._

She sits down abruptly on the chair, chest heaving.

Whatever form of mind control he trained in still has a sway over her, even if she tries to fight against it. And it infuriates her.

"You did say that," he repeats, and his voice is so certain she starts to doubt herself. "After you had consumed copious amounts of cocaine and alcohol," he adds. He decides to give her the benefit of the doubt even if he thinks her lack of recollection is more due to stubborn denial than ignorance.

Eleanor's staring back at him in shock as she wonders if that night did really happen after all. But then if she did tell him she loved him, he never said it back and he's not saying it now, only using it as a way to remind her of something that makes her weak.

"So now," he continues, "we are going to talk about this relationship, Eleanor."

Eleanor juts out her chin stubbornly. " _That's not what this is_ , you said. You said this wasn't about tuxedos or dancing or kissing. It was just about you controlling me. You made me feel like I was nothing," she hisses and her voice shakes.

"You made me feel that I was worth nothing," she's fighting to stop herself from crying, to stop her voice from shaking and her hands from trembling but it's all coming out now and she can't stop herself from spewing out accusations, from bleeding out the hurt that feels like its ripping her apart.

"You don't care about me. All you ever wanted from me was a way into the Palace and a diamond which wasn't even mine," her voice sounds anguished and there are tears filling her eyes and she gets up abruptly and walks away from him because it hurts so much to see the cause of it all sitting in front of her. She stares out the window. She can see Liam strolling by the tennis court in the distance.

There's a silence for a good minute until she feels rather than hears him behind her. His hand is warm against the delicate skin of her neck and his fingers slide her hair to the side.

"Sir," the security guard at door clears his throat.

Both of them have forgotten they're being watched and two pairs of eyes turn towards the door, startled.

Eleanor takes a step forward and Jasper steps back, reluctantly.

Jasper's voice is quiet but clear and meant only for her. "That's not what I want from you now, Eleanor."

When he met her he was quick to assume that they were a match because Eleanor's no angel herself. Only in amidst all of her over dramatic, self destructive excesses he discovered the Princess actually had a heart - that she loved her family, that she actually felt things, she had secret ambitions and dreams to be something more than a title.

He swallows. "I did those things because, as you so accurately pointed out, I'm a bastard," he tells her.

It had been easy enough to use her, to use her body, to control her and manipulate her to get access to the Palace and the jewels inside it.

But along the way much against his will, he'd started to care for her. Somehow, somewhere along the way - hot mess that she was with her impervious ways and her designer dresses, cocaine addiction, her struggles against her mother, her heartbreak over the father and brother, her fire and her heart, as they duelled with words during the day and her body writhed under his night after night, she'd gotten under his skin the way the exact same way he'd gotten inside her body and made him fall in love with her.

"Turn around Eleanor," he orders, but this time she doesn't comply.

She doesn't turn around because she still can't bear to see his face, can't bear to hear him say she's nothing to him again.

She stubbornly ignores his instructions and doesn't even answer him.

He runs a hand through his hair, and loosens his tie, feeling suddenly sweaty. "I hear you in my sleep," Jasper says. "You're the first thing I think of when I wake up and the last thing I see when I go to bed," his voice takes on a desperate edge. "I try and picture your face when you're not there, your eyes, your lips, the way your hair smells, the way your skins feels to touch. Everything about you, Eleanor. Just you," he says with emphasis. She's imprinted herself on him so indelibly, he can't rewire his brain to normal again.

"I used to drink black coffee, no sugar and now I drink Goddamn tea, white with one sugar because that's how you take it and I don't even know _why_ the fuck I do that except it reminds me of you," his voice has risen and he's struggling for control. "And the night I thought I'd lost you, when your heart stopped beating was the entire worst of my life," he blindly reaches out for her hand and clasps it in his, wrapping his fingers around hers.

He wants her to turn around so that she can understand what he's saying to her. But she doesn't.

"And the sum of it all is that I can't get you out of my head, Eleanor and its ruining my life. So don't you bloody tell me I don't care about you," the words come out far louder than he had anticipated, startling them both and everyone else in the room.

Finally, Eleanor turns around, and he sees that her eyes are wide, and she's been crying.

"Visiting time is over sir," one of the bodyguards announces, deciding to bring this to a close a good ten minutes early. They're under instructions to shut down any outbursts or incidents of physical contact and this one has pushed the limits too far several times already.

They both ignore him, and stare at each other.

"Sir, you need to go," the bodyguard repeats as two men in dark suits start to step towards him.

They're almost upon him when takes a rushed step towards Eleanor and kisses her fiercely, marking her as _his_ forever.

Two seconds later, hands clamp down on him, dragging him away from her and out of her life once again.


	17. Chapter 17

_Thanks for your reviews._

 _Yes so Jasper (a man of few words) has finally fessed up about how he feels about Eleanor. So what does Eleanor do next?_

* * *

When they rip Jasper from her arms, Eleanor's left bereft to be locked up in her metaphorical tower once again.

Jasper's words are stilling ringing in her head as she makes her way back to her room. _I can't get you out of my head, Eleanor, and its ruining my life._

That makes two of them.

She wonders what will happen next.

Clearly, nothing will happen until she gets released from this place in another two weeks. But after that?

She's never been any good at relationships, and going on what she knows about his nefarious ways, Jasper's probably even worse than she is. And even if they were to try to be together, could they? Or would her mother end it before it even began. Or the Prime Minister might try and shut it down when he finds out that the Princess is dating an American grifter with a criminal past. Because she knows the price her family pay for their privledged life style is political interference in every facet of their existence.

But most of all she's confused if Jasper even wants this. Because he told her that she was _ruining his life_.

There was a time when she thought that Jasper Frost was toxic. As toxic as the cancer that had taken over Liam's body. And, at times she still thinks of him like that because whatever she does he _still_ has a hold over her that she can't seem to shake.

And if he sees her the same way, then does he actually want her after all?

When she gets back to her room, she sits down on the box seat by her window. Outside, the leaves are turning from green to golden and soon they will start to float down to the ground.

Her lips still burn from Jasper's mouth on hers and she can feel where the marks his hands have left on her wrists will turn into bruises.

She shuts her eyes and tries to recapture the memory of his kiss again.

* * *

Nina's not stupid. She knows something's up with Eleanor, but Eleanor's not giving up what's changed.

After a day or two, things seem to get back to normal once more and then in between rehab sessions the two of them are staging fashion parades in their bedrooms and critiquing the real housewives of various US cities on TV again.

"I don't know how _she_ can call herself a real housewife. I mean those tits are certainly not real, and neither are the lips or the nose," Eleanor points out. "Can you be a real housewife if you're partially silicon?"

Nina shakes her head. "And aren't housewives supposed to spend their time looking after their kids and doing housework because she has two nannies and three Hispanic housemaids and I've never seen her so much as lift a duster before."

"I call bullshit," Eleanor declares, and Nina giggles in agreement.

"Anyway, I'm just looking forward to the day when they branch out and start filming real Princesses of the UK, because I can't wait to see what the Princess does behind closed doors," Nina says. "Or who," she adds mischievously, arching an eyebrow.

Eleanor returns Nina's smile briefly but there's no heart to it. Because ever since he came back, there's only one man she can think of. And there's only one man she'll be letting into her bed now because from the moment he kissed her again _bloody Jasper Frost_ has spoiled her for other men.

* * *

A week before she's due to leave her mother makes a surprise appearance at the centre, looking chic yet elegant in jodphers, a linen shirt and a fur wrap. Even in her seemingly casual attire her hairs still perfectly coifed and she's dripping in expensive jewellery.

"Darling, you look beautiful," she declares. "You've finally put on a pound or two and it really suits you."

Eleanor frowns, scanning her mother's face for traces of veiled sarcasm but she's smiling back at her, looking genuinely happy to see her.

"Thank you Mum," Eleanor says. "You look good as usual," she offers back politely.

The Queen smiles back at her. "I have a little surprise arranged for today," she leans forward and whispers into Eleanor's ear conspiratorially. "We're going riding."

Eleanor's face lights up because after five weeks here her life is getting dreadfully monotonous and the thought of being out in the open air is truly exciting to her. "I love surprises," she replies back enthusiastically.

* * *

After they've been riding for an hour, Helena broaches the subject of Jasper.

"You know Jasper Frost was the one who found you and carried you to the ambulance when you were ill," she tells her daughter, keeping her eyes on the route ahead. "And then at the hospital once the doctor told Liam and I you were going to be fine and we best all go home and come back in the morning he insisted on staying with you until you woke."

Eleanor looks over at her mother and bites her lip, but doesn't reply.

"I can clearly recall the way he looked at you. It was like you were a river and he was dying of thirst," Helena adds significantly, glancing over at her daughter as she continues to stir the pot a little further. "So because he was the one who saved your life I told him he could have anything he wanted. He could even have you if you'll have him."

Helena looks over at her daughter in time to see her sharp intake of breath and her eyes widen. "You mean you would approve of Jasper and I _together_?"

Helena nods. "If that's what you want Eleanor. I made the mistake of marrying for all the wrong reasons and I don't want you to be pushed into making the wrong choices."

She continues, "I'm not saying it would be easy. No doubt the Prime Minister will disapprove of Mr Frost but if you want to be together I will help you, and so will Liam."

Helena draws her horse closer to her daughter, leans over and runs a hand over her daughter's cheek. "You have this time alone to yourself to think about what you really want daughter. So use it wisely and choose well."

Then she turns her horse away from her and urges it forward into a trot, heading for the stone bridge in the distance. Eleanor shifts her reigns to follow.


	18. Chapter 18

After her mother visits, Eleanor starts to have hope.

The news from England is good. Liam's doctors put him on a new medication recently released from drug trials which will reduce the chance of the cancer returning by half.

So she's hopeful that Liam's going to live and be around for a long time yet.

But most of her hopes and dreams don't centre around Liam, they're focused on someone else.

She can see where she wants them to be - her and Jasper. In her head she imagines him by her side an official functions, his fingers pressed into the small of her back, whispering dirty thoughts in her ear like he used to so long ago. And in the wintertime, he would be in her bed once more, his arms around her, keeping her warm on the long cold nights.

What she's not sure of is how exactly the two of them will get there. _If_ they will get there.

And she's not sure if she's brave enough to try.

* * *

Eleanor's dressed in light blue shift dress because today is the day James will pick her up and they will be going home to see Liam and her mother. And _him._

Normally she would wear something black and slinky but its hot and she feels almost optimistic so the bright colours seem to better fit with her mood.

Nina left yesterday and in another three weeks she's going to visit and stay at the Palace. Eleanor can't wait to get home because without her friend she's interminably bored here. And today she isn't thinking about the past, she's looking to the future.

She gets the call at 9.30am, shortly after she returns from breakfast. "Your bodyguard is here, your Highness," she hears the voice on the other end of the line.

Eleanor doesn't wait for the porter but grabs her suitcase and whirls down the stairs in a hurry, barely managing to contain her excitement that freedom is now within her grasp. One of the palace staff has already arranged the bill payment from afar, so she checks herself out promptly and then ventures out into the sunshine to see James.

Only its not James.

It's _him_.

He's leaning casually against the hotel portico with sunglasses wrapped around his face and he's not in a bodyguard uniform but a pair of jeans and a fitted t shirt. He looks ridiculously handsome in a way that's reminiscent of James Dean.

He removes the sunglasses and drinks in the sight of her, looking her up and down.

She stares back at him open mouthed for a good ten seconds.

"So there's been a change of plans," Jasper collects himself and tells her, looking pleased with himself.

"James isn't coming and we're not going home today. I've booked us a hotel in the next village over by the sea for a couple of days. Not that you'll be seeing much of anything outside the bedroom mind. We have some catching up to do," he adds and gives her a look that makes her heart flutter.

"But aren't they expecting me at home?" she questions.

Jasper shakes his head. James is in on this so far that he actually suggested it in the first place so he's not expecting Eleanor back for several days. And Liam's also in cahoots with them. And Helena. In fact everyone's actually in on his plan. Everyone except for Eleanor.

"Not until Thursday," he tells her.

Then Jasper takes two steps forward, tilts her backwards just like in the movies and kisses her hard on the mouth.

She clings to his waist so that she doesn't ungraciously topple over backwards while he sticks his tongue down her throat.

Eventually he rights Eleanor back on her feet, flustered and breathless.

"You know there could well be papps around here," Eleanor tells him warningly, as common sense catches up with her. Her mother's voice is in her head - _you know that someone's always watching._

Jasper shrugs nonchalently, "I like to put on a show. Did I make my point?"

"You made some kind of point. What were you going for?," Eleanor tells him.

"I was going for I missed you, I want you, I love you and now I've got you back I'm never letting go of you again," he looks her straight in the eye and the shock of his words is almost like a physical blow.

Eleanor's stunned. Jasper's never been one to wear his heart on his sleeve and rare to get any indication that he actually possesses any feelings at all from him before. And now she's got all of that from him in one sentence.

He's met with silence. Jasper takes in Eleanor's shocked expression and raises an eyebrow. "Well. Are you going to say anything here?"

He's hiding it well, but there's just a touch of desperation in his voice. _Tell me you love me too._

Eleanor steps back from him and swallows. She's scared to do it but she's going to take a chance.

She's going to do it. She straightens her spine and lifts her chin.

"I don't remember saying it to you like you said I did, but maybe you were telling the truth when you said I told you I loved you," its as much of a concession as she's willing to make and an apology of sorts.

He doesn't miss the way her mouth quivers and she digs her fingers into her palm and he can tell she's working herself up to say something.

She puts her heart on the line. "Because I've been in love with you for a while now. Ever since you came back to help Liam," she tells him.

Jasper's been radiating tension ever since he told her how he felt and _finally_ he smiles. Or rather smirks in a self satisfied way like he's won some kind of prize.

But Eleanor's better than any prize he's heard of. Or diamonds.

He steps into her and then his hand is in her hair and his other winds its way around her waist. And even though neither of them are thinking about paparazzi they should be because there's no mistaking the intimacy of how he's holding her.

"I've been in love with you for far longer than that, Eleanor," Jasper's voice is low and he's talking in her ear. "When Cyrus removed your security I couldn't stop myself from following you to Paris and Brazil and Greece just to check you were safe. By the time I was doing that I had to question why the fuck I was spending my life savings chasing some girl across the world and I couldn't deny it to myself anymore."

He rests his head against her forehead and looks her in the eye. "Is this what you want? Us? Because I want you more than anything and I choose you if you'll have me."

Eleanor bites her lip and nods. "Even though you're a common, thieving, conniving conman with a liking for punching people with more enthusiasm than is strictly necessary for your role - " he's also a motherfucker. Literally. But she's decided to leave that out just for now -,'I choose you, too Jasper Frost, god help me," she adds because for better or worse she can't get him out of her head and whatever comes her future's going to be tied up with his.

Jasper's still has his head against hers and it feels strange to let him into her life once again and to let down all her defences. But it also feels so right.

""You choose me and I choose you. Then this is a relationship. This is forever Eleanor," he tells her. His voice is firm and his face is serious.

Eleanor can't help but smile because its been months since she's had this sensation but she realises that this is what happiness feels like.

Jasper picks up her suitcase with one hand and wraps his other hand around hers and they take their first steps into forever together.

 _The End._

* * *

 _That's the end. Thanks to all of you readers and reviewers who have been following the story._

 _I kind of like the idea of them having a happy ending and riding off into the sunset together. I hope you liked it too._


End file.
